Red Petals and Black Feathers (UNDER EDITING)
by Nastark
Summary: Tic. Toc. Tic. Time was running out. Ruby Rose had to do something and fast. She had to get back home. She needs to get back to with her friends as they try to restore the peace in Remnant. Hinata Shoyo's days seemed to go on longer and longer. Something was coming he knows it, but doesn't know why or what. It filled his dreams, night after night, but none of it made sense.
1. Prologue: A New World, A New Beginning

**DISCLAIMER: This is a fan fiction, and by no means do I claim ownership over RWBY or Haikyuu. They belong to their respective owners (Thank you for the amazing show, Monty Oum. May you rest in peace.).**

 **Also, this will posted on three different websites, , Quotev and Wattpad. Mostly for comparison.**

 **Now without further ado . . .**

 **Prologue: A New World, A New Beginning and An Exposition via Phone Call**

 **S** he never would've thought that she would be back to living a normal life. As normal as it was before the tournament that change everything anyway . . .

 _BLEEP! BLEEP! BLEEP!_

The sound of the alarm that she had grown to hate filled the room, waking Ruby Rose up. She sat up, stretching her arms out while letting out a yawn. She looked across the room where the alarm sat out of reach, effectively stopping Ruby from hitting snooze again and again and again, to infinity and beyond.

"Okay, I'm up. I'm up." She said to the inanimate object that was continually making a ruckus. Sometimes, she wonders if her neighbors can hear it and is extremely bothered by it.

She gently hit snooze, while Yang would probably smash the button in. She would too, if Yang didn't need to buy a new clock once in a while because of it.

Proceeding to the door so she can make breakfast, she saw the brand new uniform hanging by the knob and felt all of her drowsiness go right out the window and took the next trip to "Really Far Away Land".

It always seemed like a distant thing, you know?

She was going to a new school as a transfer student for the rest of the year. The reality of it hit her now. She felt her nerves go on edge and her stomach jump in anxiety. School. Classes. People. Homework. Tests. Quizzes. People. Activities. Work. _People. People. People._  
She doesn't know anybody there! Can she even make any friends?! _Arghhh!_

She smashed head on the cabinet next to her, causing the books stacked on top to fall of and mockingly hit Ruby on the head.  
Inhaling sharply, her hands suddenly raised about head level then suddenly slapped herself on both cheeks.  
 _Keep it together, Ruby! You haven't even started yet!_

She then shook her hands as if her nerves were stored there and she was trying to shake them off.

 _All right! Here I go!_

She grabbed the cloth and when she touched it she kind of expected it to feel. . . Well, she expected to feel something. What that was, even she doesn't know.

After hanging it by the bathroom, she pulled out some eggs, flour and other essentials (Courtesy to Ren) and started making Pancakes, Lie Ren-styled, or at least as close as she can get. Nobody makes pancakes like Ren, like no one can make cookies like her mom. . .

Her mom, what would she say to Ruby if she was with her now? In that new world where she came in really clueless, where she didn't know anybody there.

Her pancake mix was now done and she proceeded to heat the pan.

Speaking of them, how was everybody doing anyway? Jaune and the two were probably looking for Ruby. She hasn't even heard from Blake in months. Weiss too was out of contact. Last time she checked, Ozpin was still missing, she has a feeling he still is. And maybe Yang was up already again.

The thing is, she thinks- No. She knows her sister will be up again. No matter how hard you hit her or put her down, she will get up, stronger, and fight to stay up. That was the Yang that she grew up to love, who took care of her, who held her close when she had nightmares, who fought of the people who bully her, who was encouraged her, who was proud of her, who was always been at her side when nobody else was.

The pan sizzled as the room-temperature batter hit the warm pan.

She wonders how Weiss was doing. Weiss was probably fighting in her own way, her personal demons. At first Ruby wondered why Weiss, daugher of the probably most successful Dust company in the world, would choose Beacon instead of the pride of her home city, Atlas. But the from what she had seen, she probably would have done the same too. Her family's status raised her up on a pedestal but chains her down on it. She was not born with a life that she owns, she was born with one that her father thinks he does. Her attending Beacon wasn't a random act of rebellion that comes with the teenage years, it was an action towards freedom from a life that was planned out to play exactly as others want it. Freedom from the actions of his father that was causing the end for the company that he did not start, she won't let him. But now she was back home again against her will, on the orders of her father as if nothing changed.  
She flipped the pancake to the other side.

Blake. . .ran. That was what her sister said. After saying that she doesn't want to run anymore. After all the memories, all the trust, she ran away again. Just like when she found out her partner was a monster, like when they found out she was a former member of the White Fang. And now. . . Beacon has fallen. Grimm ran rampant destroying everybody. She was stabbed. Weiss was taken away. Yang's arm was gone. Penny was sliced apart. And Pyrrha. . .  
After all those events, guess who was nowhere to be found after. Sun was pretty run down because of it. But after all of it, Ruby believes that even if she's alone, even if she's running, she, like Weiss, was fighting, both the demons in Remnant and the demons that her mistakes created.

She placed the pancake on the plate on the counter, and the sizzling started as she poured batter unto the pan again.

But even if this is how things were, even if the things that her teammates fought and fought got to them, Ruby believes that it isn't the end of them. They weren't just going to lay around doing nothing, they will get up again and again. Yang became like this before too when she endangered Ruby's life looking for her mom before, hoping to make their family whole again when Summer died. But she got up again and became like the mother-figure Ruby looked for. Weiss might have been taken away, but she knows she will be back to fight again, whether or not her father likes it. Blake ran but she will be found again, as long as they fight the same enemy their paths are destined to cross. And once it does, she will convince her to stay, and fight alongside with them again. And if she ever ran away again, they will be sure she will be back to them again, because they had become her home in a world where she discriminated for her features. They would all come together, up from the dirt and be forces that will defeat the ones who threaten the peace.

The pancake flipped and landed on the plate, slightly burnt.

She was being a naive child. She was believing that if she was back at Remnant, after all the struggles she would go through, there was a happy ending, but in reality she doesn't know. Nobody does. Yang might never get up again. Blake might forever remain missing. Weiss will live her life the way she doesn't want to live it. Ruby won't win in the fight, she will die somewhere in the middle and in the end her death will be in vain. But she personally finds that she wasn't being naive. She didn't believe that winning was just a matter of determination, but if she does nothing. . . she never even had the chance, and she refused to stand by and just watch as villages burned while corpses layed on the ground coloring it scarlet, their eyes wide and white like snow. And she believed in her teammates, that they will keep on fighting even if she were to die.

She started spreading butter on the top.

Looks like if she doesn't find a way back, she will not find out. So with all her determination, even if the others tell her that even after all the years that passed they haven't found a way back, she will keep searching. She'll keep looking for a way back home.

Her phone rang, making Ruby almost drop the syrup bottle she had been holding up. She made her way to the coffee table where she left both her phone and scroll on, which was a bad idea, just in case somebody called her scroll which was reserved for a specific purpose. (That would be her huntress duties). Anyway, it was her phone, so it was probably not an emergency or a mission.  
She flipped the red-colored cellular open. A smile appeared on her face as she read the familiar name that was displayed, plopping herself unto the couch.

She pressed the button.

"Heyloooo~"She greeted in a sing-song voice. Nora's influence. . . Or maybe she always had it in her, Nora brought it out.

"Hi." said the familiar masculine voice replied, on the other end, it sounded a bit echo-iy there, he was probably in the basement, which means he was looking for a document. Was he going to ask about something about her files?

"So," he said, dragging the 'o' a bit, most likely Ruby's influence on his usual abrupt 'so'."I was checking on you before your first day at school. Big day, huh?"

"You can say that again." she said, looking up at the ceiling in exasperation.

"That again." he replied as soon as Ruby stopped talking.

Ruby nearly face-palmed, no matter where she goes it appears that terribly Yang-like jokes followed her. "Did you just?!"

"You said that I can say 'that again'." Ruby could almost see him beaming in the cold white-colored  
room in the basement.

"You could always say that. I never said that you couldn't" Ruby replied.

"Yeah, it was the timing to say it though." He replied, she could her the familiar squeek of the chair there and a sound that suggests he just placed a stack of paper on the metal desk. "So, how are you holding up over there?"

"I'm fine. . . I guess." Ruby said, deciding the wall was more interesting to stare at than the ceiling.  
"You guess?"  
"Yep'" She replied popping the 'p'. "It's like my first day Beacon all over again, except nobody is carrying around cool weapons. Now, I'm totally cast-out!"

"You'll be fine! After all, you managed to do fine with people even though you were moved two years ahead."

"Yeah, but these people don't even know about the Grimm, much less where I came from." she pouted. "I just want to be normal girl with normal knees."

She heard him say 'ha', as if to say 'Yeah, right.'." Last time I checked, normal knees don't jump meter into the air with no problem.".

"You're not helping here, now I feel even more different."

"Hey, you'll be alright. I mean you thawed the Ice Queen and made her your best friend, as you had said."  
"Yeah, but-"  
"Hold your horses, I'm not done. Don't look at your differences as something that will stop you from making friends, look at them as advantages. You're unique in your own amazing way."  
"You sound like my dad." Ruby said, but smiled at the memories.

"Anyway, how are the others doing?" she asked.  
"They're fine, but the Grimm count really riled up since you came, like more than the usual count when somebody falls into this world, way more."  
"Oh, sorry about that. . ."  
"What are you apologizing for, you help and kill more Grimm than the ones that started coming because of you! We should be thanking you."

Ruby felt her face heat up.

"I-Uh...That's not-!" She had no idea what she was saying.

She can hear him laugh on the other line as well as it echoed of the walls.

"Really though," he said, after calming down. "I'm considering giving them a raise or a bonus for the added Grimm."

"I-" Ruby was about to apologize again for the added monsters but cut herself off, when she suddenly thought of something, suddenly sitting up straight.

"You?" he asked, prompting her to continue.

"Do I get a raise too?" she said, hopefully, her eyes sparkling at the idea.

There was silence at the other line for a few seconds that seemed to drag on a bit longer.

"Ma-maybe." he hastily said. "I said, 'Maybe'."

"I'll take that as a big "NO" and I'm assuming that I should forget everything I just heard." Ruby said.

"Exactly!" The guy on the other end exclaimed. "Good girl."

"I am not a doggie." Ruby pouted.

"Well, anyway, I'm going to remind you. . . " he started, changing the subject.

Ruby nodded as if he can actually see her.

"Don't forget about your huntress duties after school, if anybody asks say that it's a part-time job."  
"Got it."

"If anybody asks, your father and sister are abroad." He said, she heard some paper shuffling on the other side.  
"M'kay."

"Make sure to not let anybody find Crescent Rose. Make sure that the compartment is well-sealed before you leave."

Ruby walked over to the black and red school bag and checked the compartment at the back.

"Looks good to me!" she replied.

"Also your Witness No. 1. . ."  
"Yeah?"  
"You should be fine with contact with him, just try not to get too close, or let anything trigger his memory of that night."

"Okay. Family is abroad. Secret-Huntress-Job remain a secret job. Do not let my witness remember the events."  
"That seems to be in order. . ." He said, he sounded as if he was about to end the conversation. "Wait! Also-"  
"Yes?"  
"Remember why we put you in Karasuno despite the fact that you Witness no. 1 is there?" he said, in Ruby's mindset, he was leaning back on his chair while holding a document in front of him.

"Grimm had been appearing more and more around that part, and if anything happened I'll be there quickly?"

"Exactly. I want you to remember to keep watch out for any Grimm activity." She heard the squeak of the chair that was made whenever the weight on it shifts. "Got it?"

Ruby nodded even though she knew that he couldn't see it for the second time. "Got it."

"So, that's that. Bye, then."  
"Bye-bye~" Ruby replied.

A small beep was heard, signaling the end of the call.

Ruby made her way back to the counter and set her phone down next to plate, before proceeding to sit down on the chair. She poked her pancakes and felt that they were cold.

"Bummer." she said, pouting , to no one in particular, but nobody was there anyway so. . .

Anyway, she proceeded to eat her pancakes from that point with nothing but her thoughts to keep her company. Ha, she remembers the old usual morning bickering that went on in their dorm. It all starts with her trusty silver whistle that filled the everyday nightmares and mornings of her teammates. Yang had admittedly, tried to destroy it, but , alas, she was not successful.

 _Darn_ , she really misses them.

She picked up her sticky, syrup-covered plate and washed it at the sink.

It's cozy. She thought that, looking at her reflection at the mirror in the bathroom after pulling on the cream-colored sweater on. It, in a way, resembled her old Beacon uniform. Cut her hair a bit shorter and add her cape on, you might think no time had passed since then. No time, no dread, no mourning, _no death._  
She slid the red ribbon underneath her collar and tied it into a bow. She then placed on the black blazer and pat down the grey skirt, looking at herself in the mirror sideways. She cleared her throat and put on a smile.  
"Hi, I'm Ruby! I'm new here. I hope we can be friends!" she said looking at her reflection that mimicked her movements through her peripheral.

 _It wasn't the best, but it's something. That's better than nothing, I guess._

She got out of the bathroom and made her was towards her black and red-themed bag that has her rose emblem embroidered on the black fabric with red thread. The thick black leather on the back that had magnetic clips to hold Crescent Rose into place diagonally. She honestly had no idea how such an obvious-sounding thing was well-hidden from the line of sight of other people even if they were up close, Ruby honestly had no idea. She wasn't even sure if they could pull it of when they told her they would be supplying her with a bag to hide her weapon, that she just had to give specifications for the holder, but there it was, delivered about a week later. They apparently had some trouble with such a large weapon, even in folded form, but they haven't been doing this for many years, for many hunters without encountering something like this once in a while.

Inserting the folded form of Crescent Rose in, she felt it stick to the magnets and heard a tiny click, which meant it was safely into place. Then she pulled down a small lever that triggered two metal holders to snap on. Once that was done, pulled the leather flap over the mechanisms, and, almost magically, it seemed like it was just the plain back of a bag.

Picking it up using one strap she made her way to the door, where just on the side was her red hood that she lazily dropped on the floor the night before after one long night of hunting.

Sitting on the small bit of elevation where the floor separates from the cold concrete (where her shoes were placed) and the wood, she slid on her black socks that reached up to her thighs and placed on her jacket which she shook in the air to clear of any dust.

She picked up the keys that were placed on the small drawer just beside her, and with one last look inside the comfort of her apartment to make sure all the hidden panels and such were all in place, she made her way out.

She would say that she walked down the stairs, but she slid most of the way. After fishing her keys out, she unlocked the padlock of her red bicycle and guided it unto the street that went down-hill.  
 _Alright, let's do this!_  
With that, she mounted the bike and with one push, went down the hill at high speed, just the way she loved it.

_

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE(Skip if you want):**

Hi, guys.

So it's been a while since I last wrote, I mean about more than some months, about a year or two (maybe), so the writing might be off. . . by a lot. Anyway, if you want (I'm not forcing you to), make suggestions on how to improve my writing etcetera or mistakes. Sorry, if the characters might be OOC. Also, there will be OCs but they'll just be there as supporting characters to move the plot along, most of the focus will be on the characters of the respective series, so don't worry about them too much.

The Haikyuu cast will be appearing soon, so don't fret.

-Nastark :)


	2. Chapter 1: First Day, First Impressions

Author's note: Alright, before you read this, I will warn you. This chapter is a mess. The story kinda went somewhere and I had no idea what I was doing, writer's block is real. I plan on editing this again, anyways.

 **"They see you as small and helpless, they see you as just a child."**

\- This Will Be the Day, RWBY Volume 1 soundtrack

 **RUBY**

 _Blah, blablah, blah-blah, bla, bla-blah, blah._ The teacher finished with finality in her tone. She was discussing a literary work, or at least that's what Ruby thinks.

Ruby was just about two seconds from letting her head slam into her desk, while her head lazily balanced on her palm with her elbow propping it up.

The teacher turned around and started to write things on the board. Ruby let out a silent sigh, tilting her head a bit to the side before sitting upright. She reached into her bag that hung from the side of her desk, (to which she was given some so-called "balancers" that she clipped unto the other side of her table, preventing it from falling over the other side under Crescent Rose's weight), and pulled out her notebook, to take down notes.

The _blah, blah, blah_ turned into language that Ruby could comprehend as her attention turned unto the teacher.

"-the people at the time loved stories of great power and great evil. There is usually that one hero that will rise above the rest and defeat the evil that threatens the good."

Ruby almost let out a snort.

 _Yeah, right._

She always knew that the world was not that kind. Blake had been a living reminder of that.

Ruby knew that. She did. Even before Blake told her all those months ago that life isn't like as fairy tale.

But still she went out there not knowing what would happen next. At the time two of the many things in her mind was that one, it was (as Yang hadn't failed too point out) a very reckless idea. And two, she was willing to take the risk if it meant that she would stop them from taking anybody else.

In the months that had passed the 'reckless idea' became more and more apparent.

It was a rollercoaster ride really.

One moment you're looking forward to something, the next moment it's gone.

You never really knew what was waiting in the next hill.

Maybe something good.

Maybe something bad.

Maybe they would all make it.

Maybe they would die.

They didn't know. They never did.

But none of their resolved wavered. They pushed through, through all the challenges, the obstacles, the good times and the bad. _They pushed through._

The world is not exactly like the books Yang read to her.

But she enjoyed the stories anyway.

The bell rang and the teacher stopped writing. The chalk lingered a bit more as if she was planning on writing some more. She heaved out an audible sigh and turned to look at them.

"I guess that's it for now. Remember to covered assigned literature for the quiz tomorrow" Que multiple groans. "I will exclude this topic, though. But it will be included on the next one, so be ready."

There was a chorus of "Yes, _sensei._ " and "Okay."

The teacher gathered her things up and made her way to the door. She looked back before she left, her eyes scanned the room before landing on Ruby.

"And Miss Rose,"

Ruby perked up at this.

"If you are in need of any assistance, feel free to ask your classmates. Might I suggest Miss Yachi right in front of you. Her notes are good, and most likely covers the all the topics."

The student in front of her tensed up at the mention of her name.

" _Hai!_ " Ruby replied, awkwardly saluting.

The teacher seemed taken aback by the gesture but nodded and walked out of the classroom.

Ruby's shoulder slumped again before leaning back on her chair.

Sometimes. . . _Nope_ , not gonna lie. _Always,_ she wanted nap time back into her schedule.

* * *

 **KAGEYAMA**

It had been a fairly normal day for Kageyama he had gotten up at the time he usually did, went to school like he usually did. And like other people had said about him, he had been typically drinking milk on one of his breaks.

The day would've carried on liked any other too. Probably sleep through the rest of his classes. Go to volleyball practice. Prove himself superior to a certain _aho._ Then something rather unexpected happened.

It surprised him enough that he spat out he milk he was drinking, and made him tighten his grip. The sticky white substance splashed from the straw and on his hand before it just became gradually slowing drips. But he couldn't care less. There was something he'd much rather pay attention to.

 _Was it her?_

Up on the rooftop a girl leaned on the railings, black-red hair flowing gently in the wind, the sun making the red tips brighter. A red jacket was placed on top of the Karasuno female uniform. The same one she was wearing _that_ night.

Her eyes were a light color, even he could tell looking up at her from the ground. The sun even seemed to reflect of it a bit like it was metallic.

He burst through the door, surprising an unexpecting nearby student. Wiping the milk from his mouth with his sleeve as he ran up multiple flights of stairs.

Standing in front of the door of the rooftop, panting and sweat dripping from his forehead.

He placed his hand on the handle, took a breath and pushed it open.

 _Nobody was there. . ._

He ran out towards the middle and looked around, in hopes that she just moved a bit.

 _No one._

He looked down at his milk carton to make sure that he was in fact drinking milk, not some sort of hallucination inducing liquid. Then he checked the expiration date, though he doubted that he wouldn't have realized if it was, in fact, spoiled.

He walked towards where he saw her and placed his hand on the railing. It was still a tiny bit warm, an evidence that someone was, in fact, leaning on that railing not long ago.

He let out the breath he hadn't known he had been holding.

So someone was there after all. Meaning that is she is truly in the same school, he'd find her.

* * *

 **RUBY**

Somebody was tapping her shoulder, she tilted her head to the side from being cushioned on her arms to see a classmates poking her awake. He was, she assumed, probably on class duty that day.

"I'll be going now. See ya' tomorrow." he said, before taking off. He was looking like he really wanted to crash on a bed himself.

Once he was gone, Ruby remained like that for a few more seconds that felt like a minute before finally groaning and stretching her arms out, satisified feeling her joints pop.

Out of habit, she checked her phone. Her scroll, like most of her huntress-related items, was concealed. In her pocket, she opened a flap that was tucked into the corner of the pocket. Pinching the edge, her scroll slid out, and she pulled it out.

The diamond was not blinking or anything, so there was nothing new that was specifically for Ruby (There was always something new. It was seemed to go that way ever since Ruby came around.)

But _still_. . .

With one swift movement, she slid it open with her thumb. As it had been waiting for this timing, the gadget vibrated signaling a message.

 _From: Dexter_

 _Slayer. Raised grimmm activity in that area. Rift got it. Im on my way. Just focus on your own mission._

She read the message and disregarded the extra "m" in Grimm and absence of apostrophe, but she could hear the mini-Weiss that lived inside her head rant about informal dialogue. Exiting the messaging app, she opened the standard app that was installed into her scroll when she agreed to help out with the Grimm. It showed a map with marks all over it.

Grimm activity, nearby Hunters or huntresses, rifts that bring the Grimm, and a list ran by the side of the screen, showing notifications and mission assignments.

The Grimm activity focus was relatively far, but close enough to throw caution in the wind.

After tucking it back into her pocket, she placed her bag on her lap, holding the table to make sure it won't fall over from the weight of the stabilizers (a.k.a. balancers). She unclipped it from the bottom of her desk and put them away. She opened the back of her bag a bit to ensure that the giant mechanical scythe was secure. After that was done, she stood up, sliding the bag unto her back, and made her way to the door.

She stepped on something.

Looking down, she found a book. A literature book to be more specific. Whoever left that there was screwed tomorrow. Literature was first period. So, not unless they come early or they're completly prepared, they should pray when the teacher begins the quiz.

Ruby opened it on the first page.

' _Yachi Hitoka_ ' was written in yellow in with a bunch of stars doodled all around it on the bottom of the title page.

 _Yachi?_ Wasn't she the blond girl that sat right in front of Ruby?

Maybe she could go to the faculty for Yachi's contact number.

Her feet went into auto-pilot mode while her mind drifted on thought about the 'nearby' Grimm activity.

Dex was unto it. He was going to take care of it. But she couldn't shake the bad feeling at the pit of her stomach. And, unfortunately for her, a lot of times, her gut instincts are correct. Like something (most likely bad) was going to happen.

She stopped in her tracks as she realized another problem at hand.

 _Wait. . . Where am I going?_

She was in an unfamiliar corridor, stopping at the dead end. Wasn't she going to the faculty?

 _Wait!_

Where was the faculty in the first place?!

She resisted the urge to smash her head on the wall. She was taking the path she usually takes whenever she goes to the faculty in _Beacon_.

Looking around, she had absolutely no idea where she was. Alright, she just had to go back the way she came from.

Go backwards!

 _Nope._

There was a corner.

 _Left or right?_

If she went in through left, she has to go right and vice-versa.

Not that it would matter because she really has no idea.

The left looked as new to her as the right.

Unto Plan B.

There was one more way to decide this!

 _Eenie, meenie, miney . . . mo!_

She ran to the right at full speed as if she was in a labyrinth that constantly shifts its corridors.

Another corner approached. She staggered, nearly going straight into the wall.

She looked to her left, then her right.

The cycle continued.

A few minutes have passed, Ruby found herself in front of a window somewhere about the third floor, or at least she thinks. The more she moves around the more lost she gets, so she's going to go with Option C.

She slid the window open and put one foot on the ledge.

There was a strap attached to the shoulder straps of the bag. "Sternum straps" is what they called it, she thinks. Anyway, they said that it was usually only one going across, but from how much Ruby moves, they attached two, going diagonally down, crossing in the middle. She also has these so-called "Hip Belt" but they enclose on her waist, it is currently folded and tucked into a small pocket on the back. Pulling those out of their sockets, she secured it around her waist, pulling at the bits of her jacket that were tucked uncomfortably underneath it.

She shook a bit to make sure that the bag won't move everywhere before placing both feet on the frame. One hand on the frame, she leaned herself out of the window and slid it shut.

Then, she let go.

The wind pushed her hair back as she felt fer feet on the wall and ran downwards. Ruby jumped from it when she was near the ground, rolling upon landing.

She looked around.

There were the gyms and the building that held the clubrooms not far.

 _Slam!_

Her head turned to her right to a gym. There were sounds of rubber shoes squeaking, like there were multiple people constantly moving on and about, sliding to the side, running, jumping. There were some sound of voices too, but the ones yelling something that sounded like "Chance Balls!" or "Nice Block" or what caught Ruby's attention most "Nice _Kill_ ".

 _Slam!_

Now she was really curious.

She ran up the side of the gym excitedly, and jumped to the small window, grabbing the edge to hold herself up, smiling like the dork she is.

There, in his shining glory, was Witness _numero Uno_. Jumping the air and gravity seeming to defy him. A ball coming towards him at high speed before. . . stopping just before his hand. Two blockers stood before, both taller than the shrimpy but none were able to stop the ball from getting through. It was not a powerful hit, but it was aimed correctly, passing in the space between their hands.

 ** _Hinata Shoyo._**

Time passed by normally again, Ruby didn't even realized that it slowed down. The shorty landed lightly with a bright smile plastered across his face. The smile made Ruby glad to see that he was spared from the darkness that came with the knowledge, from the ignorance of the dangers that lurked.

The tall blond blocker-guy seemed to be annoyed.

A semi-bald guy walked towards the raven-haired male who sent the ball towards Hinata, hands raised waiting for a high-five. And there in the background was the girl she had been looking for in the first place. Yachi bounced in her place happily as she added one point to her friends' team. 26-24.

From the looks of it, it means that they won, seeing everybody starting to leave the court, some talking, others wiping their sweat or drinking water.

"What are you doing?" said a masculine voice.

Ruby went rigid and she immediately let go on the window.

"I was- I _uhh_ -" she said, face feeling like it was burning up, she probably looked like a tomato, looking at the intruder (Though the trespasser here was probably Ruby), he was a blond dude with earrings and a headband, standing just outside the open door of the gym.

His eyes suddenly widened as if he realized something before smiling.

"You're interested in Volleyball aren't you?"

"Yes!-Um, no. I _uhh_. Yachi left this in the room!" she said, hastily removing the multiple straps and pulled the bag to her front, rummaging it for the book, before quickly presenting it to him.

He hummed to show that he understood.

Turning his head in the gym, he called for Yachi.

Said girl then came running out with a questioning look, before turning her head to see Ruby awkwardly holding her book. Her eyes sparked with recognition and accepted the book with a smile.

"Thank you, I was just about to go look for it."

Ruby sheepishly scratched the back of her head.

"You're welcome." she shyly mumbled.

Yachi's smile widened before a curious look fell on features.

"What are you still doing in school this late?"

"I _uhh_ . . . fell asleep." she said, closed eyed with a small embarrassed laugh.

Yachi suddenly looked embarrassed herself.

"I-I'm sorry!" she bowed, surprising both the other guy and Ruby. "I-I saw you asleep, but I assumed that someone would wake you up! And you brought my book back to me too!"

Ruby raised her hands in front of her in an declining manner. "No. No. It's fine, really. It's my fault for falling asleep in the first place."

Yachi tilted her head up to look at her, expression clearly saying that that wasn't a valid excuse.

"No I-"

Ruby cut her off. "Okay, then. What if when I need some help catching up with the lessons, I come to you? That a deal?" she said, she stepped forward nearly in view of the gym, hand outstretched.

Yachi's eyes windened and she immediately straightened up and shook Ruby hand, her lips stretched to a smile.

"Okay."

 _Slam!_

Something flew out of the door at high speed.

Instinctively, Ruby raised her hand next to Yachi's head, a loud sound made at the impact, but Ruby's hand did not move even a bit , catching what looked like a ball with one hand,

Yachi took less than a second to realize what happened, and her along with the other dude's face turned to a look of surprise.

"Crap! It didn't hit my hand right!" came from the gym. And sounds of feet ran towards them.

"U-uh" Yachi started.

"Are you alright?" Ruby asked.

Eyes still wide, she nodded.

"You" the blond started. "have good reflexes."

Ruby pulled her hand back to her body, now holding the ball between her palms.

"I guess so. . ."

Somebody arrived at the door, looking extremely frantic.

"Yachi! Are you alright?!" said the semi-bald guy. Yachi jumped from the sudden loudness.

"I-I'm fine." she said.

"What going on?! Is everybody okay?" a guy with black hair pointing upwards with a distinct little bit of blond hair on the front. Surprisingly, there was somebody in there shorter than Hinata.

"Everything is fine." the blond one waved in dismissal.

The two visibly relaxed, the semi-bald one especially.

" _Oi,_ Be careful when you spike, you nearly hit Yachi." said the guy who Ruby had now assumed as their coach.

He , like Yachi had done earlier, bowed quickly to Yachi.

"Sorry!"

Yachi, like Ruby had done, waved a hand in front of herself. "No, it's fine."

Something vibrated in her hood's pocket. Meaning an update on missions, probably her assignment for the night.

While they were busy handling the apologies, with the short one giving a comment every now and then, Ruby placed the volleyball on the ground and walked away.

"Wait, where'd she go?" she heard the bald guy say.

Ruby turned back to them.

"I gotta go. I have something to do."

Yachi nodded and waved goodbye.

Ruby returned the wave and smiled before turning the corner.

* * *

 **KAGEYAMA**

Kageyama saw the four walk back inside the gym from the corner of his eye while he was drinking water.

" _Ne_ , Yachi." Tanaka said.

Yachi looked beside her.

" _Hmm_?"

"Is your friend half-Japanese?"

"I don't know." Yachi said, looking at the ceiling as if the answer was written somewhere up there.

"Oh, it's just that her eyes are. . ." Tanaka said, Yachi looked at him before looking forward and nodding.

"Strange, right?"

"They kind of looked silver."

Nearly for the second time that day, Kageyama almost spat out what he was drinking. He swallowed hard and placed the water bottle down on the bench and coming closer to the talking pair.

He tapped the shoulder of the unsuspecting Yachi Hitoka, who in return turned to face him.

"Yes?"

Kageyama cleared his throat.

"This silver-eyed girl, what did she looked like?"

Nishinoya answered before Yachi did.

"She had black hair with red tips that looked awesome!" patting the side of his head as if to mean hair.

 _Bingo!_

Kageyama's eyes widened a bit and nodded prompting them to resume.

Tanaka touched his chin and added "She was wearing a red jacket."

It was definitely her.

"Where did you see her?" he asked, subconsciously leaning a bit forward .

"She just left." their coach asked. "You know her?"

Kageyama looked at the blond before straightening his posture.

"Not really." he said with a slight shake of the head." But I think we've met before. . ."

" _Oh_?"

Kageyama didn't need to turn his head to recognize the taunting voice that made his blood heat up.

"Could it be that the King has a crush on someone?"

 _What?_

Tsukishima grinned, waiting for the reaction. But the only thing Kageyama did was tilt his head to the side questioningly.

" _Nani?_ No." he said plainly.

Tsukishima clicked his tongue unsatisfied with the reaction he got and went back to whatever he was doing prior to this.

"She's my classmate. Ruby Rose."

Kageyama turned his attention to Yachi.

"Since the start of the year?" he asked unbelievingly.

Yachi shook her head, "No, she just transferred today."

Kageyama remained silent for a second before nodding.

A whistle blew, and everybody started going to their respective teams.

* * *

 **RUBY**

As it turned out, the Grimm activity around the school was worse than they had thought. In the end, they sent Ruby to help out Dex.

They finished up quickly just before the volleyball club finished training, to ensure that nobody would be pounced on on their way home.

Unfortunately for Ruby, that was just an extra mission, she still had to do her solo one.

But she wasn't fighting on an empty stomach, deciding to pick up some food in a nearby convenience store.

She passed by someone who was mopping, who much to her surprise, turned out to be the coach-guy from earlier. She froze for a second in surprise, he himself seemed to be mildly surprised that she was there, but a nod later, Ruby went on to the food section.

Right now, she was debating which brand of cookies to buy, one hand on her chin.

The door made a small squeaking sound as she heard it open, and then closing shut, temporarily distracting Ruby, who looked up to see the raven-haired dude from the volleyball team earlier. She didn't get to take a proper look at him earlier, but now that she thought about him, he looked kind of familiar.

She turned her attention back to the cookies and the mental debating of which one to to buy.

In quantity, she thought as she raised one up to her eyes for inspection, this one was the winner but. . .

In quality, the other one is up for grabs.

But did she she really need good tasting cookies or regular ones just as long as her hunger was was entertained for the time being.

The better quality ones would leave her taste buds satisfied but not her stomach. . .

Maybe she should think about how much work she still has to do too know how much calories she should consume. But then again, her stomach doesn't instantly turn good into energy as soon as she eats it. . .

For the second time since she came in, the doors sounded, meaning either the guy left or someone else came in. Her ears that are more sharp than regular ones picked up footsteps that were getting louder. It was the former.

The newbie seemed to be having around, probably looking at the products.

Ruby tore her mind away from the strange feeling of uneasiness. But another part of her mind told her to pay more attention. Her aura felt like it was giving her warnings.

 _Be cautious,_ it says.

Ruby poked her head above the shelves at the newcomer. He looked like the textbook definition of the 'shady guy you about on the streets', cap and all. But she gave him the benefit of the doubt. Afterall, people have often said that her uncle looked shady. Though she doesn't blame them.

His head titled over at her direction, spotting her looking at him.

Ruby quickly ducked back in the cover of the racks, grabbing the two cookie packs like nothing had just transpired.

Even so, her aura just kept telling her to keep her guard up, and she knows better that to ignore it.

So then she continued her know unfocused mental debate while listening and keeping track of all the current occupants of the building.

The headband blonde was done mopping and seemed to be reading what was probably a newspaper from the crunching sounds.

The black-haired mister stoic-face was over at the drinks aisle.

The shady one was walking around while looking, like he was trying to look like a normal bystander, but just made him more suspicious to the observing huntress. He started to wander over to the drinks as well.

Then her ears picked up something else that made Ruby's senses go on alert.

Metal sliding against metal, a small sound of a knife as it unfolds into its full form.

Immediately, she crouched on the floor, looking up the curved mirror at the corner of the store which served the purpose of giving the whole view if the place for the customers to find what they are looking for. Right now, it have Ruby a view of the situation.

She watched as the man, grabbed the black-haired one by the shoulder pulling him towards his chest. The knife was angle against his neck.

If it were a less dangerous situation, Ruby would've round the height difference hilarious because the culprit had to actually great him by the hair to have a better reach of his neck.

"Don't struggle boy." He whispered lowly, the sharp edge taong to strike the after that ran along his neck.

"Give me all the money in the registrar!" he demanded.

Hearing the loud order, the blond ran up to their aisle and saw the situation.

The blond looked terrified and started to walk backwards to the cash registrar His eyes flashed to where Ruby stood earlier before focusing on the guy who was held hostage.

The guy who seemed to have a permanent frown plastered on his face now looked terrified, but still stoic in a way.

He actually kinda looked scarier than the one holding the knife, like he was the one who was robbing the store. His chest raised up and down rapidly, eyes wide, body frozen stiff. The knife pressed dangerous against his throat, pushing his skin back a bit, threatening to spill blood if pushed down any further.

* * *

 **KAGEYAMA**

Kageyama felt adrenaline go through his veins, but his body was unmoving. His heart pounded against his chest like it was about to break his ribs. He could feel it clearly, the knife pressed hard against his throat, just a little bit more, he would be cut.

Part of him was worried for his life and party of him wondered whether he would sustain volleyball threatening injures.

He felt the criminals warm breath against his ear. He too has his heart beating slightly faster.

"Make one move and I'll kill you." he reminded as he needed too be.

They waited while his coach pulled money out of the registrar.

"Place them in a bag!" the man behind him commanded, voice raspy and low.

Ukai pulled out one white plastic bag and it crunched a bit as he put the money in.

"Give it to me!"

Kageyama could see his coach slightly shaking in his step as he stepped forward to the intruder.

Once in arms reach, the criminal snatched it out of his hands, and started walking backwards to the entrance with Kageyama still as hostage.

The doors opened.

He held his breath as he waited for him to let him go and make a run for it. . . but the man didn't.

Instead, he was held tighter and the knife moved into his skin, a bit more force and-

But that never happened.

He felt the wind knocked out of his lungs and a second later he realized that they were both on the floor.

He scrambled out of the ground to a kneeling-position, and found yet another unexpected thing.

The man was pinned to the ground with a knee. The knife was out of reach. A girl was tying his hands hastily with a thin rope, pushing him back to the ground every time he attempted to shove her off himself.

She pulled on the rope, tightening the knot and with a huff, she stood up, and stepped on his back to keep him from moving.

There were bits of cardboard on the thin rope as if it was taken straight from the shelf and torn from its holder. Probably was.

His attention turn to the girl, and looks like third times the charm.

Foot still place on the back of the intruder, her silver eyes were, much his surprise, calm, calculating, not a single sign of fear or adrenaline. Her hair was black and red at the tips were slightly disheveled, since she just tackled a man down.

She looked like the time he first met her.

Like that night, the calm look morphed into a worried one, turning to face him, eyebrows furrowed, mouth forming a little frown.

 _Are you okay? She said before._

"Are you alright?" she asked.

His hand went to his neck subconsciously. "Yes."

Everything she did was like what she did before too, as her frown turned into a glad smile, cheeks rosy.

 _After checking if he was fine, her eyes widened as if she remembered something, and took off with a rushed goodbye._

Right now, her eyes did the same, and she turned around.

On instinct, he reached out and grabbed her arm, to stop her from going, like she was going to proceed to run off again.

"Why? What's wrong?" she asked looking down at him, who was still kneeling.

Behind her, he can see his coach looking at him with a worried expression and a mix of some other emotions from the rather exciting event s that just happened but felt like days ago at the same time. He was on the phone, probably with the police.

"No. I'm fine. It's just. . ." he started looking at her.

She knelt down in front of him, one foot still on the robber, like she was making sure he doesn't move while she wasn't looking. She looked like an adorable worried puppy looking at her master.

"It's just?" she prompted him to resume.

"Thank you." he said, wanting to look away but he didn't. He wasn't usually one to give compliments or gratitude. But if he does, you can count on it to be really genuine.

Her features turned happy again.

"No need to say that you know."

 _What?_

"Why? You-"

"'Saved me'?" she finished for him. "I don't think you need a reason to help someone else, especially if their life is in danger. Do you?"

He looked unbelievingly at the girl in front of him.

"No. I guess not."

Her smile widened.

"But I'm not only thanking you for this time, last time too." he added, looking away as if it was a strange topic to touch on. It probably was, since from the looks of it, she doesn't remember.

"Last time?" she asked, head tilting to the side slightly in a confused manner.

"That night when I was almost hit by a truck, you pushed me out of the way, but you ran off before I could say anything."

Her hand found its way to her chin and she looked at the ceiling saying " _Ooooh_."

She looked down again and met his navy blue eyes.

"Anyway," he said, reaching for something in his pocket. He always kept it with him just in case he ever ran into her again. "You dropped this."

He felt the familiar leather of his wallet and pulled it out. He opened it and discarded a photo.

He saw her eyes widen and she took the photograph from him. She look at it with an expression he can't identify, but if he had to describe it, it was a mixture of surprise, sadness and happiness.

She suddenly pounced at him, his back nearly hitting the shelf.

"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!" she said again and again, squeezing the breath out of him.

"I thought I lost this!" she exclaimed.

In front of him, Coach Ukai was awkwardly scratching the side of his cheek.

"Um, so, I'm assuming your alright?" he said.

Kageyama nodded with his usual stoic demeanor with the frown, as if his life wasn't placed in danger a few minutes ago.

Ruby pulled back, tucking her bangs behind her ear, happily looking at the photograph.

Sirens sounded somewhere in the distance and soon enough, red and blue light flashed from outside the shop's windows.

* * *

 **RUBY**

Well, looks like it was going to be a rather long night. Then. . .

She grabbed the cookie pack she dropped earlier.

Quantity over quality.

"I'm gonna but this." she said, raising it.

The convenience store coach- A convibient coach?

Well, whatever. Anyways, mister headband-and-piercing looked over at her, then the cookies and back at her.

A small smile appeared on his lips before saying, "On the house."

* * *

 **Still RUBY**

She couldn't believe it. She almost thought that she lost the picture. She had always valued it, because of the happiness in the photo. A moment frozen forever in ink.

Yes, Jaune was wearing a dress, but not the single bit did he look awkward in it, he was even doing a strange pose that he thought would cool. He was standing happily next to Pyrrha, full of life, full of happiness to be next to the one she loves.

Nora being her usual eccentric self right next to Ren, who was giving a rare smile, but it was a hundred percent genuine.

Penny was holding a peace sign because she said that according to her intel that was a popular pain among the other members of her assumed she group. In dad-terms, she was trying to be "in" on the trends.

Blake stood next to Sun who had a large smile across his face with an arm over her. She herself was smiling, happy to have a night of happiness despite the battle they were fighting. A night that gives more of a reason to fight for the peace that was held so carefully.

Weiss had on not her usual cold demeanor or polite smile. She kind of looked a bit goofy with that smile, while right next to her, Neptune was doing what Jaune was doing except being successful in the being cool part, but his big dorky smile ruined it, looking like he was happy with Weiss.

Yang had Ruby pulled close to her with her grin large as ever, while Ruby had an awkward smile plastered on hers, not wanting to have a picture wearing that.

She loves this picture. This one night, everybody was happy. This picture has shown parts of her friends that you would both usually see in them and the ones that you probably never will see.

They were being interviewed one by one. The interviewer was a fellow hunter who pursued that career.

"So, that's all." he asked looking at Ruby.

"'Yep" she replied popping the 'p'.

"Alright, then. I figured that it wouldn't be much of a fight."

Ruby drank some of the milk that he gave to her.

"Slayer. . ." He started. Ruby looked at him curiously at the use of her codename.

"He talked to you before you went to school this morning, right?"

"Who? The chief?"

He nodded.

"Yeah. He just checked up on me before I went to school. Why?" Ruby leaned forward, looking at him eyebrows furrowed, there was something in his tone that worried him.

He looked at her straight in the eye, like to show that he was dead serious about what he was about to say next.

"He was found dead in his office."

 _"What?"_

* * *

 _Author's note:_

Also, you might mistake some scenes here as shippings, but it's not, it just couldn't be helped that Ruby usually acts adorable and hug-y. One more thing, I'm planning on doing this a weekly thing. So, yeah.

 _Edit#1:_

I'm back! Wooo!

Anyway, just some light changes on this chapter. And yet again, my beta reader still hasn't edited. . . Oh well!


	3. Chapter 2: Again

**CHAPTER 2: AGAIN**

* * *

 **"I wasn't dreaming when they told me you were gone, II was wide awake and feeling that they had to be** wrong."  
 _-Red Like Roses Pt. I, RWBY Volume 1 soundtrack_

* * *

 **RUBY ROSE  
** _

 _Again. . ._  
Ruby stood in front of the freshly dug hole. The metal creaked as the coffin lowered to the freshly dug grave.  
 _Again, somebody was lost . . ._  
The black dress she was wearing, absorbed all of the heat, in the sunny day that contrasted the mood. Dex stood beside her, his usual laid back attitude, not a single bit visible. He looked years older than he actually is, despite that he was normally mistaken to be younger. He was barely whispering, but Ruby could hear every word.  
" _Oi. . ._ Chief. . . Get up, or I'll slack off and nobody will tell me off this time. Boss me around. Yell at me. Just . . . _please. . . Dad. . ._ " his voice cracked.  
She didn't need to look, she knows that he had his knuckles closed so tightly that his aura is the only thing stopping his nails from making him bleed. She knows that even if everybody leaves, he would still stay, looking at the gravestone. She knows that she will no longer randomly find Dex hiding somewhere (like the coffee cabinet), while chief would be asking everybody while mumbling curses and punishment plans under his breath while he searched every corner to find him. She would no longer hear the usual ask for a raise, and the turn down due to his own laziness. No more yelling in the next room. . . But even so, like Ruby, Dex crashed in that world when he was young, unlike other people. The chief took him in, since he was afraid that Dex couldn't take care of himself, and raised him. The chief was his _father_ , blood related or not.

A little boy clutched the hands of his mother tightly, asking if- _Begging_ for all of it to be just a dream, eyes puffy from crying, and asking again and again, where his father was. While, the widowed woman was shaking in her heels, like her knees were about to give in any second, and fall to the ground, crying. Ruby could tell that the chief's wife was trying to hold it strong for her son, to show that everything will be alright, even if she doesn't know when it would be. Ruby knows that she would spend nights alone in her room, crying, after she tucked her son into bed with an encouraging smile. But little would she know that the kid would probably still be awake, listening at the door to the sound of the sobs, wishing to be able to do anything, but can't. Because no matter what they do, no matter how many people they would bring to justice for their crime, he would still be dead. Because after all, doing that and this funeral was for the ones who were left behind not the ones who went forward. It is for the living to move on.  
And even if they have learned to accept it, it will still hurt. The wounds will never truly heal.  
Ruby knows it. Ruby is familiar with it because she experienced it first hand. The first death, the first person that the Grimm had taken from her. _Her mother._

A white rose in hand, Ruby looked at it.  
 _"Thus kindly, I scatter. . ._ " She mumbled to the rose, her lips sliding against the smooth petals.  
She watched the rose fall and as if the rose heard what she said, some of its white petals peeled off and gently landed on the smooth wood after the rose, landing scattered.  
The coffin touched the bottom.

But right now, it wasn't about her.

She reached her hand to her side and closed it on Dex's fist. He showed no respose. She gave a light squeeze before opening his fist.  
He didn't even try to resist. She saw his shoulders slump through her peripheral, his mouth closed to a frown, when earlier he gritted his teeth. He looked up and she saw tear stains down his cheeks but she didn't say a word. This was the first time she saw the twenty-six years old man like this, beaten and sad.

They started dumping earth back on top of the grave.

The chief's son made his way to them, and placed his tiny palm on Dex's.  
" _Onii-chan_. . ."

They all watched in silence as they finished things up. People gave their condolenses and left without another word. Once everybody was gone, Dex looked at his foster mother then at Ruby, looking like he wanted to say something, but she already knew, taking the child that had fallen asleep.  
"I'll take him home." she said with a nod.  
Dex returned the nod and made his way to his mother placing a hand on her back, as Ruby walked away. She watched their figures become smaller, while the mother fell into the one who had been her son's embrace as they both fell to the ground, crying.

Ruby had taken the kid back to their house, and tucked him into bed. It was sunset and Dex was not home yet. She stayed in the room, a chair pulled up to the bedside.  
The orange afternoon light engulfed the entire room by the time the kid woke up with a little groan.  
He looked at Ruby, eyes drowsy and red.  
"Rose _-chan?"_ he asked, voice dry.  
Ruby gave him a little smile before handing him the glass of water that she had prepared.  
She watched as he downed the water quickly before suddenly stopping midway while still tilting the glass to his lips that quivered. The water dripped down his chin and unto the bed, his brown eyes widened, tears formed at the corners. He looked horrified as if the reality hit him again.  
She reached and took the glass from him and placed it back on the counter.  
His eyes lowered to his legs that were covered by the sheets.  
Ruby didn't say a word.  
"I dreamt about him." he said, not looking at her.  
". . . my dad."  
Ruby just nodded, despite the fact that he wasn't looking.  
"I didn't dream that he was alive. I dreamed about the funeral, and when I woke up. . . I though it was all gone. I thought all of it was just a dream. . ." his voice was breaking and he hiccuped.  
She sat down on his bed and pulled him to her, holding him in her arms. He was so small. . . so fragile.  
"I can't tell you that it's alright. . . because it's not."  
He let out a whimper and dug his face to Ruby.  
"And I know, you don't know whether it will ever be. You don't know what will happen tomorrow. You don't know how you will be able to live."  
He was crying all out.  
"But you have no choice but to. . ."  
He didn't stop but he calmed down a bit, and she can tell that he was listening.  
"'How could he leave us, when he swore that he would stay?'. That you will always see him once he comes home. But this time he didn't."  
Right now, he was shaking, really, really hard, but he was listening, probably depending on each and every word Ruby says now. Looking for something, _anything,_ to help him get by.  
"Everyday will feel like a nightmare, that you rather just remain asleep, lost in your dreams."  
She tightened her hold on him, as if to say that she was there, she would be there for him.  
"But you have to move on, live the life that he wanted you to live, struggling day per day. You have to keep going, that's the price that the ones left behind pay. But no matter what happens, you still have to live. Keep living, because you know that that was what he would've wanted, that he raised you knowing that even without him, without _anybody_ , you will be fine." Those were the word Ruby looked for relentlessly when things went bad for her when she was a kid, words that she had found herself in the following days.  
The black dress was wet with warm tears that continuously flowed down from his eyes, he was crying out loud, shaking.

Ruby said nothing else other than that, she just remained there until he was just giving whimpers, and finally stop crying.  
Ruby left only to use the bathroom and cook some dinner, bringing it up to him in his room. She left when Dex and his mother came home. It was around eight by then and she left with nothing more than a nod to Dex and a tight but short to the woman before leaving and going straight to her huntress duties. She didn't know whether she was shouting with every slash she made, killing the Grimm harder, but by the time she got home, her black dress was tattered where usually her clothing would be unscathed. Her back hit the door once she got back to her apartment, as she slid down to the ground. But she didn't cry.  
She hugged her knees to her chest as she repeated the words of the one who told the chief was dead.  
"He was found dead in his office, the one he had in our headquarters, whoever did it if most likely a hunter or huntress, one of us. Nobody without a scroll with the app would have entered. Especially not that ofifice. _Don't trust anybody_ , but I do trust you."  
 _'Nobody knows who to trust._ ' were the very words of her sister. And that the very reason why so many people have died. Not because of the ones who caused Beacon to fall, but themselves. They were divided. They pointed their weapons at each other, ally against ally. The fear brought in the Grimm more and sparked more suspicions and conflicts. Everybody was anxious. They were all scared, and she can't blame them, but if anything, it would be their downfall.

Ruby was scared, she tries to look tough in front of other people, but deep down she was terrified. Scared that history would repeat itself, and she would see so many companions die again, even if there was no White Fang here, no Cinder Fall.

. . .or perhaps there were. . .

* * *

 **TOBIO KAGEYAMA  
_**

"'Scuse me." A familiar rather high-pitched voice said behind him.  
He was standing in front of the vending machine, deciding which drink to get.  
He turned to see Ruby stiffling a yawn with her hand on her mouth. She had bags under her eyes.  
He moved to the side as Ruby stepped forward. She gave the drinks one look before pressing the button for the milk.  
She tilted her head to the side as if confused why it wasn't giving her her drink.  
Kageyama heaved out a sigh as he inserted his own money and pressed the button again.  
The machine compiled and a thud was heard. Ruby's eyes widened a bit as if she had just realized that she hadn't inserted any money. He picked up the drink and tossed it at her, who caught it with a confused look.  
"It's my treat." he said before getting his own drink.

They leaned on the wall right next to the machine when he asked, "Are you usually not in the classroom during breaks?"  
Ruby looked up from her drink, looking curiously up at him.  
"Well, yeah. I'm usually at the rooftop. It's windy there. Oh, by the way. . ." she started. He looked down at her. She was shorter than Hinata.  
". . . do you play volleyball?" she asked. Despite being sleepy earlier, she was fully awake now, even a little excited.  
"Yes". he said plainly, as though there could be no other answer.  
"Oh." she said, before going back to her drink.  
He felt like he owed her and it didn't really bother him.  
"Do you want to watch later?" he asked.  
Ruby looked up again at him, he could almost see her eyes sparkling with excitement before the suddenly widened a bit like she had just realized something then back to smiling, but this time not as wide as the last.  
"Sure, I guess."

* * *

 **RUBY ROSE  
_**

Oh, how she regrets it.

Standing outside the gym, she was wearing a simple black shirt under her red hood, with gray jogging pants. He had told her that it would be better if she came wearing something like a track suit or something. It wasn't a tracksuit but it was close enough. She usually brought extra clothing just in case her clothing got destroyed like the black dress the night before.  
She took a deep breath to calm her nerves, her Witness was there, but he barely even saw her that night, just enough to count him as one. He barely even caught a glimpse of Ruby, so chances are, seeing her won't trigger anything. But she can't help but be nervous. It was either that, or she was scared that she would stand out.  
She gulped this time, and she opened the door.  
As if fate decided that this was the perfect time for it to happen, she watched as a old-looking guy spike the ball down, a powerful sound heard when it hit the ground.  
"Whoa." she mumbled to herself.  
She opened the door more, just enough to get in, careful not to make a sound.  
After closing the door behind her, she made her way to Yachi who was arranging water bottles beside another girl who looked like a higher year.  
Careful not to attract anybody's attention, she made her to them by the sidelines.  
Apparently, that was not to be.  
"Hey! Red _-chan_!"  
Ruby turned around to see the guy shorter than Hinata runs towards her with his hand waving in the air.  
She awkwardly returned the wave.  
 _Great, now everybody was looking at her._  
Right now, she wanted to run home and watch cute kitten or puppy videos, not to be touched or noticed.  
There were a multitude of eyes on her. And she can feel every single one of them.  
 _Arghhhh!_ She thought she was over this. This was what she felt like when she fought Cardin Winchester as the first match of the year back at Beacon. There were so many people, so many eyes, all looking at her. It happened because Cardin threw Jaune at Team RWBY's table, then Glynda came in and the next thing Ruby knows, she was in the ring. . . But right now, in all honesty, she would give so much, just to be standing in that ring again with many people watching her, just as long as those people are students of Beacon, the school that didn't fall.  
For some reason, thinking about that released Ruby from her anxious state.  
She felt her smile turn from a nervous one to a happy one, and her hand stopped being shaky and stiff while she waved back.

"Have you came to watch today?" he asked excitedly, and despite being really short by male standards, looked _down_ at Ruby.  
"Yeah, somebody invited me."  
"Really? Who? Yachi?" he asked leaning towards her.  
Ruby leaned backwards from him. "Uh, no. It was. . ."  
 _Wait. . . What was his name?! Did he tell her? Did she even tell him her name?!_  
Luckily, the black haired guy came up behind the shorty. Lifesaver.  
"I invited her." he said.  
The person stopped leaning to her and turned to face the other dude.  
"Kageyama," _Kageyama_ "you're friends with her?"  
"Not really," _Ouch_. "we're just acquintances. She just wants to watch."  
She put on a smile that most likely looked awkward, scratching the back of her head.  
"'Got it! I'm Nishinoya Yuu. Nice to meet you!" he said, hand reaching out.  
"I'm Rose Ruby, but you can just call me" _Crater Face. Red. . ._ "actually you can just call me Rose or Ruby, whichever you like." If there had been something that she has been most careful with in the culture of Japan, it was not to just call someone by their first name. It means like you guys have to be like Ruby-Yang or Nora-Ren close at that point.

The guy in front of her either payed her weirdness no mind or was completely oblivious to it, because he just kept on smiling there.  
"Feel free to talk to anybody! Especially her!" He pointed behind Ruby. Turning, he was pointing to a very, she means, very beautiful girl, standing next to Yachi.  
"It would be best if you have a girl talk and make smile." he said, with a dreamy tone in his voice.  
 _Girl talk?_  
"I'm with Noya." said the other guy from two days ago, placing his hand on who had been identified as Noya.  
" _Oi!_ Tanaka, Nishinoya! You're making her scared." said a guy with short brown hair. _Tanaka and_ _Nishi_ _noya._ Whoever he must be, he has control over them, because they immediately, almost fearfully, backed off after that with a " _Hai,_ Daichi-san _!" Daichi_.  
"Alright! Go back to training." said the guy who she knows was the coach. _Ukai, was it?_ Somehow, the name sounded familiar.  
Everybody compiled and after a nod, Kageyama went back to where he had been and was then jumped on by Hinata, who to her relief, did not show any signs of recognition. Ruby on the other hand, made her way to Yachi and the beauty.  
After an awkward introduction, Kiyoko Shimizu was the name, they were now telling her about the volleyball club. Yachi was all excited about it while Kiyoko was smiling while discussing the details.  
"Look!" Yachi said, while they were in the middle of discussing something, they had now grown rather fond of each other.  
Ruby turned to where Yachi was pointing and she saw what she had seen some time ago, but this time, she noticed Kageyama more.  
Hinata ran and jump at an amazing pace and height. Just as he was mid air, Kageyama set to the ball to him perfectly stopping just before Hinata's hand. And he spiked it down without even watching the ball, like he had no doubt that it would be just in the right place and time.  
It was amazing, even though she doesn't play volleyball, she could tell. Something like that requires extreme skill, both by the one who hits the ball and the one who sends it. And once it's done it was like _swoosh and pow!_ Like how fightng for Ruby was like _hyaaaa, whatchaa._  
"Amazing, right?" Kiyoko asked beside her.  
Ruby turned to look at her and closed her mouth that she didn't know was open.  
"Yes! It was all like _swoooosh_ then it went _pow!"_ she said, jumping in her place, a dorky look on her face."I wanna try!"  
Kiyoko looked at her with a gentle smile, "After training perhaps you could try."  
Ruby's hand shot up as if she was a student answering the teacher. "Yes, please!"  
Yachi's hand also raised, copying Ruby. "M-me too. I'm not that athletic but I wanna try."  
" _Hai, hai_." she replied, smiling at the two 'children' in front of her.  
Out of the corner of Ruby's eyes, she could see the two (Tanaka and Nishinoya?) gaping at them, or to be more specific, from what Ruby could tell, at Kiyoko.

* * *

Author's note: Alright, sooooo, I was wondering whether if you mind scenes like following one, the burial. If it bothers you to have scenes that are not Haikyuu character involved, but this is where the story really starts, where Ruby is reminded of the cruelty of the world, despite never really forgetting. But the reminder will start to pull her down, as she tries to stay up. While everybody else will start to see signs of a more cruel reality that Ruby tries to protect them from, that may engulf them and rip their dreams from them.  
Also, sorry about the short chapter. I just felt like it was a good part to cut it, but the next chapter will be out in less than half a week.


	4. Chapter 3: Rolling Lightning?

**Author's note: Update#1** _(Edited the last part for now. Still untouched by my Beta Reader.)  
_ So, yeah, life had been pretty busy, updates might take longer. Right now, I'm focusing on some editing. My Beta still has read it but hasn't edited anything yet. We've both been busy with school work, but don't worry, she'll probably start editing the prologue some time soon. Hopefully, this is just for know.  
Oh! One last thing. I'm leaving all the previous notes around, but I'll just add new ones, so try not to get confused, I'll add labels to which was first and so you should be able to identify it. __

 **CHAPTER 3: ROLLING LIGHTNING?  
**

* * *

 **"We'll live our lives watching our backs, not knowing who to trust or fear."**  
 _-Die, RWBY Volume 2 soundtrack_

* * *

She takes it back. The amount of attention she got earlier did not compare to the one she got back with Cardin Winchester. _Now,_ she feels like the first match of the year again.  
Kiyoko was talking, words were coming out of her mouth. Her hands were moving and making gestures while holding the ball, but Ruby's mind was not processing any of it. No, all of her focus was being drained by the people watching them. Believe it or not, most of it was taken by only two individuals despite the fact that it was Kiyoko they were staring at.  
Yachi was nodding beside her, looking very determined.  
"'Got it?"  
" _Hai!_ " Yachi said beside her, knocking Ruby back to reality.  
"Huh? I-uh! _Hai!_ " she said hastily, making an awkward salute.  
Kiyoko just gave a little laugh at her reaction.  
"Perhaps you would understand better if our libero taught you?"  
 _Libero?_  
"Wha-?"She looked up at Kiyoko." N-no! I'm fine with you." Ruby quickly added.  
"Alright!" She nearly jumped when Nishinoya jumped in from behind her.  
"I, Nishinoya Yuu, am here to teach you about receiving!" he yelled out, giving a laugh.  
Kiyoko spoke up. "He's our libero, which means that he specializes on receiving the ball."  
"Oh." Ruby mouthed."Are you okay with teaching us? I don't exactly know a lot about volleyball."  
"Of course!" Nishinoya said, his hand closed to a fist that he thumped to his chest. "Even if you are completely clueless, I would still teach you! Anything for Kiyoko!"  
 _So, basically, it's for her, not for me._  
"O-okay." she bowed down. "Thank you _, senpai!"_  
Silence.  
Looking up, she can see that Nishinoya had froze, like the way an app suddenly stops responding.  
had stopped responding.  
Ruby waved a hand in front of him, while Kiyoko let out a small giggle at the two.  
"Hello?" Ruby said, eyes squinting while leaning over." Earth to _senpai_ , Earth to-"  
She didn't even get to finish her sentence. Nishnoya grabbed her hand and pulled her closer to him, a huge grin plastered across his face.  
"You just called me ' _senpai'!_ " Ruby can almost see sparkles in his eyes, but it was probably her imagination.  
"Yeah, aren't you?" She had no idea why that despite his height, she assumed that he was a higher year.  
"Alright," he let go of her and gave a thumbs up."I'll treat you to ice cream after this!"  
"Wow, really?" Ruby said, excitedly leaning forward too, bouncing a bit.  
"Yes, because I'm you _senpai!_ " he replied.  
Maybe she should call him that everyday.

" _Yosh!_ I'll teach you two how to receive!"  
" _Hai!"_ Both Ruby and Yachi yelled as Nishinoya let out a proud laugh.

"So, you just bend you knees, hold your arms out like this, and go _pow_." The libero stated, demonstrating the movement. Ruby can see multiple people sweatdropping at his ways of _teaching the ways of receiving._  
Yachi looked completely lost.  
Ruby placed her hand on her chin.  
"I get it. . . I think."  
She heard somebody in the background say "You think?", more to themselves than to her.  
"Okay, let's try this." he said, grabbing a ball from a square thing whose sides were made of cloth and is supported by metal poles. It held volleyballs inside.  
"Yachi." he called out before throwing it over to Yachi. She let out a surprised yelp before extending her arms before the ball. They watched as the ball rebounded from her arms and landed behind Nishinoya, stopping after a few bounces.  
Nishinoya turned to look at Yachi with a huge smile on his face.  
" _Nice receive!_ " he said.  
Yachi's lips stretched to a smile scratching the back of her neck. "It was probably just luck, there's no way that-"  
"No way it was luck, you really did it!" Ruby said right to her, a slight spring in her step.  
"Ehh" she said shyly.  
"Rose, you're up." Nishinoya said, gaining both their attentions back to him.  
He took another ball from the stash and throwing it at Ruby who had moved away from Yachi.

She inhaled. The ball was coming directly at her, slowly, at least that was the way she sees it. She can feel everything. The eyes on her. She could almost hear Yachi's slow breathing not far from her. She can sense the people behind her, their locations. _Everything._ This was how she usually was like when she fights and, strangely, she was doing it now.  
She bended her knees and closed her palms to each other. The ball was now close. And. . . _pow!_  
Time went back to its normal flow, as she watched the ball go fly back, landing a few feet from Nishinoya's side.  
He turned to face her.  
" _Nice receive_." he also told her, giving a thumbs up.  
"But," he said, making his way towards her. "you should receive it between your arms. If you receive it with the side, it will also go sideways. You should have good control to send it to the person you mean to send it to."  
Ruby nodded.  
Ukai walked up to them.  
"Anyway, I think Yachi and Ruby could practice receiving with each other to improve."  
"That's a good idea." Nishinoya said, grabbing another ball an tossed it to Ruby who caught it after it bounced from one hand to another before finally catching it between her palms.  
"Okay. . ." Ruby said, stepping away from Yachi. "Here goes nothing. . ." She threw the ball over to Yachi who managed to recieve sending it back to Ruby.  
She stepped a bit to the her right in order to catch it. She extended her arms, this time making sure to let the ball not go sideways. And it didn't.  
Yachi chased the ball that was sent in a straight path. She chased it, but was still to far to receive it with the stance they were taught to, and she reached one arm out and hit the ball with a slight swing. _From what Ruby knows so far, you are allowed to receive it with only one arm._  
The ball was flying at high speed to several feet to Ruby's left.  
Nishinoya tried to say something but stopped at the first syllable.  
Ruby ran after it, careful not to use her semblance.  
It was going too low to catch the was she had been thought to. She placed a little more force on the next step and dived after the ball.  
 _Success!_ It hit and rebounded from her hand. She rolled on the ground back to an upright position, feeling the smooth wood, and slid a few feet more, her rubber shoes squeaking from the friction, before coming to a stop.  
Silence.  
There was complete silence.  
 _Did she something wrong?! Was that not allowed? Oh, what did she do? What did she do? This was frustrating!_  
"You. . ."  
Ruby tensed up. She can feel sweat start to form, as she shakily turned to Nishinoya. Maybe if she called him _senpai_ again, he would forgive whatever offense she just did?  
"That was awesome!" he jumped towards her. "You know how to do a rolling receive?!"  
"No, that was just-"  
" _Sugoi!"_ The taller shorty rushed towards her. "Teach me how to do that!"  
"Wait, what did I even do?" Ruby was practically pleading now.  
"You did a rolling receive," Kageyama was there now, no longer in the background. He grabbed Hinata by the back of his collar and plainly threw him aside, like he was just a nuisance that needed of disposing. Hinata gave him an annoyed looked before jumping back to his feet and walked back to them. "that's way quicker than the ones I usually see though. It's faster than Nishinoya _-senpai_ 's Rolling Thunder."  
Ruby's quickly looked over at Nishinoya with her arms raised protectively over herself.  
"What do you mean?" Nishinoya said, defensively crossing his arms over himself.  
"'Rolling Thunder' was just an ordinary rolling receive. I find 'Rolling Thunder Again' better." he said plainly, as if he was just stating the facts.  
 _Rolling Thunder?_  
 _Rolling Thunder Again?_  
"Of course the second one would be better!" he said proudly.  
"Anyway," he turned to Ruby again, "a rolling receive is just a receive done with rolling. But we need to name yours. . ."  
He hummed while touching his chin.  
His eyes lightened up, "I know!"  
Ruby and Hinata leaned in, excited to know the name.  
"We should call it. . ." he paused, smirking like he just thought up of something genius.  
"Rolling Lightning!"  
 _What?_  
"Lightning is quicker than thunder." he pointed out, finger pointing upwards like he has an imaginary thought bubble up there that was invisible to everybody else.  
Somebody chuckled in the background. Ruby turned to seee a tall blond guy.  
"'Rolling lightning'? Lightning doesn't roll."  
" _Oi!_ Tsukishima" _Tsukishima, huh?_ "Get over here! Crouch-No! Kneel! No! Darn it, get below my line of vision."  
Ruby held in her laughter. _Get below his line of vision?_  
Hinata tapped her shoulder.  
"Teach me how to do 'Rolling Lightning'!" he said, excitement filled his words. It seems that the name stuck.  
"Umm-"  
"Oh!" he said, looking up at the ceiling like he had just realized something before looking back at her. "I'm Hinata, Hinata Shoyou. Nice to meet you!"  
Ruby nodded. "Rose, Rose Ruby." No matter how many times she says it, it still feels weird hearing her name backwards. "Sorry, but I don't really know much about volleyball. I don't even know what was so special about what I did. I just tried to go _swoosh_ and _pow_." She could see people in the background look at her strangely, probably because of her wording.  
Hinata looked excitedly at her, then tilted his head to side as if to say that he was still confused, but understood in a way.  
"I think, I kind of understand." Kageyama said.  
A freckled dude came up to them.  
"Of course you do." the guy sighed out.  
" _Swoosh_ and _pow._ _Swoosh_ and _pow. Swoosh_ and _pow._ " she heard Hinata chant, eyes closed, clearly focused on getting it.

She looked over to Yachi, looking at with eyes that said ' _help_ '.  
Yachi got it because she suddenly said, "A-anyway, I think we should go back to practicing receiving."  
It was effective, because they went away after that, Hinata still mumbling under his breath.

Yachi wiped the sweat from her forehead with a towel.  
"How are you not sweating?" she panted, clutching a water bottle.  
Ruby just stood there. It was true. Throughout the practice, she didn't break a sweat or at least ran out of breath. Her endurance was tough. After all, in the months she had spent away from her house, she had to fight one fight after another, most of the time no breaks in between. Sometimes, they would go with no sleep.  
"Oh, I uh. . . played sports?" she said more like she was suggesting it than answering Yachi's question.  
"Oh, okay." she replied, before drinking water.  
Something was vibrated in her pocket. _Scroll._  
But wasn't it too early to get mission orders?  
She excused herself and stepped outside, taking the gadget out of pocket.  
It wasn't a message from headquarters. It was from the police that told her of the incident.

 _Meet me at my apartment at 10. Don't let anyone see you. Don't tell anyone. **Nobody can be trusted.**_

"Rose?" she hastily tucked her scroll back in her pocket, before turning to look behind her.  
Hinata stood by the door, nearly catching Ruby again. "What'cha doing?"  
"Oh, just grabbing some fresh air!" she said, with an awkward smile. He returned the smile, and they made their way back inside the gymnasium.

But just like the night of the murder, Ruby yet again has a bad feeling in her guts. And she didn't like it. Not. One. Bit.

Ruby let out a yawn, arms stretched out into the air, something that she may have gotten from her sister.  
 _Ugh,_ she wanted to eat something. Her stomach was growling, and right now she wanted the warm and delicious broth of A Simple Wok's signature noodles.  
Tonight's mission started of easy, but became increasingly hard. Hard enough she had to skip dinner. And fighting on an empty stomach was not the best idea, but she had grown used to it from her. . . previous experiences.  
Luckily, the apartment was not that far, and hopefully, the guy had some food in there.  
She means, how on Remnant can you have a house without any food. Ruby always has a secret stash of cookies around.  
She shivered when the cold night air touched her skin, and she hugged the red hood closer to herself. She was still wearing what she had earlier.  
As she passed the street lamps, she made a little game of pretending she was short and chubby or tall and lanky, as her shadow extended and shortened.  
The wind blew once more and Ruby's eyes stung as some dirt got in them and the air smelt like. . . _smoke._  
She looked up, from staring at her own shadow that was stuck in its tall form.  
A leaf blew by in front of her nearly going into her eye. She snatched it, expecting to her some crunching noise.  
 _No_ , it was too small to be a leaf, and the texture was different.  
She opened her palms to find a bit of ash.  
Her head snapped upwards to the sky that she had been ignorant of.

 _What?_

A small hue of orange disrupted the darkness of the night. It was barely visible, but Ruby knows what it was, she was too familiar with it. . .

The leaves that were falling back to the ground stopped in the air as if frozen. As Ruby felt the familiar feeling she gets whenever she activates her semblance.

The orange tint grew more and more vibrant as she approached.  
 _No, please. No._  
No matter how she tries to deny it, she knows. That if the fire was coming from his apartment, it probably wasn't accident.  
 _Faster. . ._  
The color orange broke the dark like a rising sun, but unlike that, this was not a symbol of hope.  
 _Faster._  
She couldn't slow down not for one second, she knows that sometimes, if you were there one second earlier, everything would be different.  
Penny would still be alive. Pyrrha wouldn't have been turned to _ashes_.  
One second.

If just for one second. .

Her semblance was speed.  
So, _why?_  
Why is it that she was never in time?!

 _Faster!_  
 _No!_ She doesn't want to! She doesn't want to be late again.

Her feet went quicker and quicker.

Everything around her was just a blur of colors, but she was sure the red thing she passed a fire truck.

The ashes and smoke illuminated by the flames were stuck in their place, unmoving.

It was warm now, but she would rather be left in the cold if it meant that her friend was safe.

 _Around the corner._  
Around the corner, _she would see the building completey intact, and something else had caught fire. It would be there like he said it would._

Her feet dragged a bit as her boots dug into the concrete as she turned.

It was a big building engulfed in big flames. . .

People were gathered below it with various faces, some scared, some crying, some looked like they were just curious.

Ruby jumped to the side of the building, grabbing the ledge of a window some floors up, before swinging herself upwards unto it.  
She jumped from one to another, counting the windows as she passed them.  
The window of the bedroom shattered, flying in the air before freezing as everything else had, and Ruby landed rolling on the ground before getting back unto her feet.  
With one last push of her semblance, she burst out into the living room.

Crimson stained the carpet. On it, her friend was there staring blankly at the ceiling that was charred black.

Ruby walked closer.

His eyes were wide like he was terrified, but those eyes held no pain, no emotions.  
Ruby went closer and picked him up to feel something off on his back.

He was limp like a rag doll as Ruby flipped him to find a huge hole where the heart should have been positioned.

Time passed normally again.  
Ruby heard the glass shards from the window finally hit the wall. The flames died down a bit as the wind that Ruby dragged along with her entered the room. Her arms became sticky as blood flew out of his back, unto the sleeves of her already red hood.

The flames went back to their previous state, but some have went out already.  
The crackling of the fire almost covered the numerous gasps and exclamations from outside, probably from the strong gust of wind Ruby brought with her. _Almost._

Right now, everything felt like it clicked into focus, she could hear everything, see everything even though she wasn't looking.  
She could feel the ground beneath her sink.

In a split second, her reflexes kicked in and prompted her to jump. Her legs responded and she began to stand up but they . . . stopped moving halfway.

She felt herself fall forward unto the floor, landing on top of the unmoving body.  
The wood gave a cracking sound before they fell down to the floor below.

Everything was a blur, a bunch of colors, mostly orange, twirled and twisted together.  
She pulled herself up from the floor, and her vision cleared but not completely as she looked around for the unmoving body.

She found one, just not the one that she was looking for.

There a few feet from her, blond hair was sprawled on the ground.  
Ruby crawled over to her.

 _It was Yachi._

She was laying there in her star-patterned pajamas.  
Her chest raised and fell.  
Ruby grabbed her wrist. A small beating came from it, but a large meaning too.  
Not one second to be wasted, Ruby grabbed her handkerchief and tied it behind Yachi's head, covering her mouth and nose.  
She turned around to the window.  
There was her friend, under a pile of wood.  
She doesn't want to just leave him here, to be burnt beyond recognition. . . but if she does, she might place Yachi's life in danger by staying there longer.  
And she doesn't want to give the one second that can decides whether Yachi would live or die to a person whose fate was already decided.

Ruby ran straight out the window.  
The wind blew her hair back as she fell down.  
Hugging Yachi to her chest, Ruby placed herself under as she took the impact when her they landed on a bush.

Ruby wasn't quite sure what happened after.  
There was some people, then an ambulance then the hospital.  
All Ruby knows was that when Yachi's mother arrived, she ran to Yachi in tears. Maybe some mascara flowing down along with it.

Ruby remembered collapsing unto the chair after that as her eyes became heavier and her body suddenly felt all the strain it had endured. And she felt herself drift of a bit into sleep, and then all at once.

* * *

Author's Note(this was when it was first upload): Asfghjklhghsdhfjs. I'm so sorry, about the last part. I know it was written pretty badly but I wasn't really feeling up to it. I guess I'll just edit it when I do feel like it. Sorry, again.


	5. World of Earth: Wintesses

**Author's note:** Alright, I'm sorry, but this is a real mess. I've been busy and I kind of lost track a bit on the plot. But don't worry, after all of the chapters are still up for editing. My Beta reader had also been busy, so none of the chapters have been edited by her or me yet. Feel free to point out mistakes and make suggestions for improving. :)

* * *

 **WORLD OF EARTH: Witnesses**

While hunter and huntresses try to remain a secret, there can be a few 'slip ups' that can lead to other people either knowing about them or at least, come close to knowing. These people are widely called by hunters as 'Witnesses'.  
Each person has a different Witness count who all have their individual identification numbers all installed with the application that are given to the ones who agree to be involved in fighting the Grimm. But not all information is open everybody. Some classes require a higher position or a passcode to be entered that can only be available for those who have permission. The usual information that's available is the name, age, gender, and identifiers along with the picture. There is also a written history of their involvement that came along with it.  
One of the available information is their awareness rates.  
 _Green_ is for complete innocents, and is used for the files off people who have no involvement.  
People that are green that are at risk of being involved has a dark dot in their mark.  
 _Yellow Green_ is the color of people who barely saw anything, that don't even show any signs of suspicion.  
 _Yellow_ are those who have seen something and has slight suspicion that is usually passed on as superstition.  
 _Oranges_ are slightly riskier ones. They are the ones who are suspicious and do not dismiss this as just something made of their imaginations.  
 _Reds_ have clearly seen and is very sure of what they have saw.  
The _black rated ones_ are completely aware of the events that transpire unbeknown to other people who go on with their lives. They are the ones who knows about the hunters, Grimm, the world of Remnant, every basic knowledge among the ones who came in from the other world.

These rating are not only valuable as a precaution, they are valuable for the safety of the Witnesses themselves. Though unknown the reason behind it, the creatures of Grimm have shown to be more attracted to Witnesses, the less ignorant the more they are attracted. When in a group of people, the ones with higher rates are noticeably the ones they attack first, despite having more negative emotions from other people. On the other hand, every time they get another Witness, the Grimm count that leaks through 'Rifts' increase, seemingly depending on how aware the person is. Likewise, whenever a new person from the world of Remnant comes through, the Grimm count also increases, but unlike the ones from Earth, they don't stand out to the Grimm in a group of people. How much they stand out is still dependent on their negativity. Some hunters are even reported to be completely ignored. But when they do feel become negative, the Grimm concentration rises.

So that is why there are assigned 'Protectors' who are typically the ones involved in the case. But in some situations, there are none involved, and the ones assigned are the ones who have the most ability to watch over them. In the cases that do involve a hunter or huntress are usually assigned to each other, if seeing the other would prove not to be risky.

* * *

 _A little bit of the story. . ._

Thunder rolled outside, she could hear the wind whistling.  
Ruby woke up, sitting up as if lightning struck her.  
Her breaths were uneven and she was fully awake, reality sunk in.  
She dreamed about _her_ again.  
Her shoulders shook once, then uncontrollably, as tears fell down her cheeks then unto her the red sheet of her bed.  
Yang groaned in her sleep and she can hear the shuffling of bed sheet.  
Ruby hurriedly wiped her eyes and fall back into bed and threw the blanket over her entire body.  
"Ruby?"  
Maybe Yang would just assume that she was asleep if she doesn't move.  
There was silence.  
 _Just don't move._  
The lamp still remained off and there was no sound other than the wind that entered through a small gap in their window, the curtain swaying in the air.  
Lightning struck again, and the thunder followed.  
Footstep came closer.  
The next thing she knows, the blanket was being raised.  
Ruby just laid there, trying not to move as much as possible.  
Yang didn't say a word, she just got underneath the blanket with her and tucked her self in.  
She wrapped her arms around Ruby.  
"I don't know what your problems are, but know that I will always be here for you, no matter what." she said to Ruby, like she knows that Ruby was awake.  
Soon enough, the snores of her older sibling joined the rest of the sounds in the room.

Ever since then, she would always find Yang in her bed whenever she woke up from a nightmare, or whenever there was a storm. It was the familiar warmth that she never thought would be gone, but even before it left, she had valued it so much.

Ruby opened her eyes.  
She was in a hospital room, sitting on a chair.  
Yachi's mother had fallen asleep, right next to her daughter while holding her hand. Her head was comfortably placed on the bed right next to Yachi's unconscious figure.  
She stifled a yawn and rubbed her eyes.  
Careful not to wake anybody up, she made her way out into the hall.  
When she came back, with two cups of coffee, Yachi's mother was already awake.  
"You alright?" Ruby asked, handing her a cup of coffee.  
"Yes. Thank you." She said, taking the the Styrofoam cup. She took a sip, and Ruby was pretty sure she saw her eyes squint a bit.  
"Sorry. I'm used to making coffee with cream and five sugar." she said, sheepishly scratching back of her head.  
"No. It's fine." she said, placing the cup down to the counter next to her.  
She still hadn't let go of her daughter's hand. She was a single mother, raising her kid all alone. Ruby knows that she was the one that mattered the most to her, despite not knowing much about their relationship, or at least that's how she sees it, even if it may not be the situation with every single-parent relationship.  
"Thank you."  
"Huh?" Ruby looked at Yachi's mother, who was in turn looking directly back at her.  
"Thank you, for rescuing Yachi. If you hadn't been there, she might have-" she bit her lower lip and looked at the ground. "She might have-" She tried to say again, like the bare mention of it was unbearable.  
"No, it's fine."  
The mother looked at her again, her brown eyes meeting Ruby's silver ones. They were where Yachi got hers.  
Silence filled the room again.  
Ruby stared at her cup of coffee that steadily grew colder, stirring it once and then, for it not to be awkwardly silent.  
"Do you live there?" it was Yachi's mother who spoke up.  
"No, I was just visiting a friend."  
"How is he?" she asked.  
"Dead." Ruby said, eyes not moving away from the cup, that she had pretended to take an interest in.  
"What?" she said, eyes widened at Ruby's bluntness.  
Ruby heaved out a sigh, and placed the cup down next to the other.  
"His apartment was the one that caught the most fire."  
"A-and you're sure that he's. . ."  
"Yes." Ruby said. "I checked myself. I was planning on at least carrying him out."  
"And then?"  
"I fell through the floor, directly into where Yachi was. I could carry one person at a time, so naturally I chose the one who was still alive."  
The mother looked at her daughter before looking back at Ruby, and for the first time that night, she let go of Yachi's hand and reached out to Ruby instead.  
Not to leave her hanging, she took her hand and Ruby was pulled into a hug.  
"I'm so sorry."  
"I am too."  
"But, thank you so much for saving Yachi." she said.  
Ruby felt her shoulder start getting wet. Yachi's mother was silently crying. Naturally, Ruby placed one hand on her back and patted it. Even though she was the one being comforted, it looked like she was the one doing the comforting here.

"Yachi is a friend of mine too." Ruby said. The mother pulled back from the hug.  
"She was one of the first people I met when I moved to Karasuno."  
"You two are classmates?"  
Ruby nodded.  
"Oh. . ." She sat down on the chair and held her hand again. She froze."Hitoka?"  
Ruby saw it, when she touched her hand, it moved.

Slowly Yachi's eyes opened, she looked around, clearly disoriented.  
"Mom?"  
She was pulled into a tight hug. Ruby walked up from the background.  
"You okay? Are you hurt anywhere?"  
"Ruby?"  
"Yep'" Ruby said, popping the 'p'.  
"No, I feel completely fine."  
Her mom, pulled away from the hug. "Thank goodness, the doctor said that he didn't find anything that could be a problem."  
"Yeah, but your apartment's completely turned into ashes."  
Yachi eyes widened. "That right! The apartment and there was fire and-"  
"Don't worry about it. What's important is that you were safe."  
"But homeless." Ruby butted in for the second time.  
Yachi looked around." How did I get here?"  
Her mom turned to Ruby. "She carried you out of there."  
"Yo'"Ruby said, raising one hand.  
Yachi gaped at her.  
"Anyway, the doctor said that you can leave after we made sure that you were fine when you wake up."  
Yachi's eyebrows were furrowed. "Where are we going to stay?"  
"We'll find a hotel for a while, until we find somewhere to stay."  
Yachi's worry did not fade from her face.  
"What about your business trip. It's tomorrow isn't it?"  
Her mother just heaved out a sigh.  
"Don't worry about that now. We have bigger problems."  
"But isn't it like a milestone for your job. You have to go!"  
"Hitoka. No. I'm not leaving you after what had just happened to you. We still don't have anywhere to stay yet.  
Ruby raised her hand, like a student answering a question asked. "Umm, actually. . ."  
They both looked at her, with expressions that Ruby interpreted as the fact they had forgotten that Ruby was still there.  
"Yachi can stay at my place."  
The mother looked up at the ceiling, like she was making a mantal debate over it.  
Yachi looked determined. "I'll stay at her place. You have to go to the bussiness trip!"  
"But. . ." Yachi's mother looked down from the ceiling. "Is it okay with your parents?"  
"Oh," Ruby scratched the back of her head. "I live alone in an apartment. There's an extra room there."  
"You live alone? Where are your parents?"  
"My dad and sister are both abroad."  
"And your mother?"  
Ruby looked at them. "She died when I was young."  
"Oh, I'm sorry. . ."  
"No, it's fine."  
Yachi turned to her mother. "I'll stay at her apartment!"  
Her mother looked at her directly in the eye. "Hitoka-"  
"No. I'll stay there, and you go to the bussiness trip!"  
Ruby could swear that she could see a proud smile on the mother's face.  
"Alright."

Despite so much happening the night before, Ruby and Yachi still attended school the following day. Ruby picked up a spare school uniform at her apartment, and changed clothing, then they both headed directly to school. The teachers were informed about what happened and they gave both of them a look when they showed up in the middle of first period.

It was recess now, and despite lacking sleep, Yachi had managed to take notes on the spare notebook that Ruby had given her. While Ruby, on the other hand, dozed off.

"I'm getting a drink, you want anything?" Ruby said while yawning.  
"Can you please get me some juice?" Yachi said, looking at bit embarrassed, probably because Ruby lended her practically everything she was currently using, and that Yachi would be living with her inside her apartment. "If it's fine with you. . ."  
Ruby nodded and made her way out the classroom, only to walk straight into someone when she turned after going out the door. She fell down butt first unto the floor.  
"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to walk into you. I-" she stopped, when she looked up to see Kageyama looking down at her, with a look of slight annoyance. That expression change after like a second, like he realized who bumped him.  
"Rose?"  
Ruby placed both hands on the floor and hopped off the floor, while extending her legs. She landed or her feet, stumbling a little bit, threatening to fall right back down, but that little balance problem was solved with hands frantically waving in the air.  
She sheepishly scratched the back of her head after.  
"So. . ."  
She can't read whether Kageyama was annoyed, or that was just the face he was born with.  
"I'm here to copy some notes from Yachi."  
"Oh. What subject?" Ruby said, straightening her posture.  
"Math."  
Luckily, Ruby is advanced when it came to Math. They taught Math back at Beacon(which was two years ahead), and having Weiss as a study partner was like shoving the entire book into your brain. Heck, even her vocabulary extended because of her.  
"I have some notes you can borrow, I'll hand them to you when I get back. Do you want any drink?"  
"Milk."  
"Done." Ruby passed him and made her way down the stairs.

Once she got back up, drinking some coffee in one hand, and holding a pack of juice and milk on the other, she heard Kageyama and another person (Hinata, she thinks) exclaim from inside the classroom.  
" _Ha?!_ "  
Ruby opened the door, none of them seemed to have realized her return.  
It is Hinata who's there.  
"What do you mean you don't any notes?!"Hinata said, looking very confused. " We saw it yesterday!"  
"Sorry." Yachi said, scratching the side of her her chin. "My uh. . . apartment was on fire yesterday, I think my notes were caught in it."  
" _Ehh?!_ "  
"Are you alright?"  
"Where are you staying?"  
"Was there anything left?"  
"Is your mom okay?"  
They asked one after another like Yachi was going somewhere.  
"Yes. My place. No, I don't think so. And yes." Ruby said behind them, startling the two. Hinata jumped while turning to face Ruby, who was startled by the sudden move.  
"R-Rose! You scared me!"  
Everyone in the classroom was now looking at the noisy bunch.  
"Scared you? I just talked, I didn't jump on you."  
"I'm jumpy right now!" he defended.  
"You know what happened?" Kageyama asked, who was still stoic.  
Everybody else started going back to their own business.  
"Well, yeah."  
"What do you mean 'your place'?" Hinata asked, who was still a bit jumpy, but was now relatively calm.  
"My place, as in my apartment."  
"Your parents are fine with that?" Kageyama asked. "She can stay with us if they aren't?"  
"Or us too?" Hinata interjected.  
"Nah, it's fine." Ruby said, waving her hand. "I live alone."  
"You do?" Hinata said, leaning towards her.  
"Yep'"  
"So we're going to come over there the weekend?"  
"Ye-" _Wait. What?_ "What do you mean come over?"  
"We study together during weekends." Yachi said. "It's okay, if we study somewhere else, if you don'-"  
Ruby cut in, "No, no. It's fine. I need to do some studying too." _And some renovations on the secret panels._ "It's nothing fancy though."  
"It's fine as long as we have somewhere to study."  
"So, I guess that's settled then."

* * *

 **Author's note:** See, a mess. A mess, I tell you! Things have been really busy so I'm sorry about it, for like the millionth time. It will be edited, so yeah. . .


	6. Chapter 4: Distracted

**Author's note:** Alright, I would like to say that none of the chapters have been properly edited yet. I have edited some stuff in and made made some tweaks here and there, nut all in all, it's still kind of unedited. My Betareader has been either busy or lazy the past few weeks, but don't worry. She'll do eventually. . . I hope.

 **Replies to** reviews: _(I've decided to just place it here for the people who were wondering the same things. Plus, I'm kinda . . . shy. . .)_  
Alright, first of all, thank you all so much for giving reviews. I'm really, really thankful.

 **TheNightstriker** _chapter 5 . Sep 30_

Ugh I was looking everywhere for this! Sad that there aren't many crossovers bout this tho, I would love to read more stories involving this.

Btw the name of this chapter it's supposed to be Witnesses

 **Reply:** Thank you. :) I've fixed the title, sorry about that, and thank you for notifying me.

* * *

 **vavoysh** _chapter 3 . Sep 22_

This is like... an interesting premise, but these last few chapters really need to be edited. The writing quality is so off compared to the beginning. You've also never explained how exactly Ruby got here and why she has to keep her job a secret. Is this an alternate dimension or something?

 **Reply:**

Yeah. . . sorry about that.  
The reason why Ruby is there and why she has to keep what she does a secret will be revealed in future chapters.  
And yes, it is somewhat of an alternate dimension.  
Thank you for notifying me about it. :)  
Now, I know some specifications on what to do next.

* * *

Anyway, without further ado. . .

* * *

 **CHAPTER 4: DISTRACTED**

* * *

 **"But every smile is not the same."** _-Die,_ RWBY Volume 2 soundtrack

" _Woaaahh_ "

Ruby watched as the people on the roller coaster brace themselves for the fall. She could hear the chains drag on the railings. She could almost see the mechanisms that run the thing.

Screams filled the air as the people sped downwards. Not the help-me-I'm-gonna-be-eaten-by-a-Grimm scream, more of the Jaune-is-thrown-several-feet-into-the-air scream.

Her attention went back to reality when her scroll vibrated in her pocket, probably for a mission update.

"I'll be back!" she said, pointing a finger at the roller coaster. "And I _will_ ride you!"  
She dramatically walked backwards to a spot between a wall and a tree.

Once she was safely under the cover, she took a look around to make sure the coast was clear.

Apparently, the coast was not clear.

No, just on the other side of the trunk, a kiddo was looking up at a branch where, when Ruby followed his gaze, a kitten that seems stuck.

"Just wait here for a bit! I'm going to look for-"

"Heeellllo~" Ruby said, coming out from the back of the trunk.

"Gah!" He jumped backwards, nearly falling down, where Ruby's reflexes kicked in and grabbed his arm.

"What'cha doin'?" she said, releasing her grip.

"I uh," he started, looking down as if embarrassed, rubbing the part that Ruby had held him at. Was her grip too tight? "A-a cat's stuck on the tree. . ,"

Ruby looked up at the kitty on the tree, pretending to just have seen it. "Oh."

"I-I was about to look for someone I know who might be able to help me get it down." he said.

Ruby hummed in response. "Is the person the one you came with, or are you alone?"  
"He took me here, because he promised to!" he said, looking up at Ruby. He had a haircut like Tanaka- _senpai_ 's.

So, this 'he' was father or brother or guardian or something.

"Where is he?" Ruby looked around. Nobody looked like they had anything in particular to with the kid.

For a second there, the kid looked annoyed. "He. . . got distracted."

Ruby heaved out a sigh. This reminded Ruby when their uncle took Ruby and Yang to the amusement park one time. Yang got distracted by the giant roller coaster and was thinking of plans to sneak in, along with her uncle Qrow, who was also formulating plans. Meanwhile, Ruby got bored and wandered off, because there was no way she could get on, she was way too small. But somehow, she managed to sneak in a larger ride. Her seat mate was too excited that he didn't even realize that he was sitting beside a little girl. Her grip was strong enough to keep her in place at the time. Ruby remembers the faces of the crew as they ran towards her when the ride finished.

She remembered the 'angry faces' that Yang and her uncle had once they fetched her. Expressions that immediately changed to excited ones as they interrogated Ruby on how to sneak in. But that was after the life-squeezing hug from Yang. At the end of the day, Yang managed to get on the ride.

"Did your buddies get distracted too?" he asked.

"Wha?" Ruby shook her head, now she was getting distracted. "Nah, I came alone."

"Ehhh?" he said, looking taken back. "Aren't amusement parks for having fun with friends?"

"Well. . ." Ruby trailed of. "They're busy."

She scratched the back of her head.

The cat meowed above them.

The kid had an expression that told Ruby that he had forgotten about it.

"Oh, right! I have to get him!" He turned around.  
"Nah, I'll get him." Ruby said.  
"Eh?" he turned back around to face her. " But how? There's no way to get up."

Ruby inspected the tree.

 _True._ there were no branches low enough to grab unto. If anything, the cat was on the lowest branch, which was several feet up.

"Don't worry about it." she said, placing her hand on top of his head. Something her uncle Qrow had done to her whenever she was down. " Move back a bit."

He complied and took a few steps back.

Ruby jumped against the trunk and kicked herself away from it, landing on the branch after.  
"That was awesome!" he exclaimed below her.

She looked down at him with a smile.

She took the kitten in her arms, who in turn did not resist. It was a black one, with some white on his paws and mouth.

There was a cracking sound and the next thing Ruby knew, she was falling down. She turned back on the ground and hugged the cat closer to her chest, to protect it.

She felt the impact against her back.  
" _Onee-san!"_ she heard the kid exclaim.

Ruby loosened her arms around the cat, who looked at her. It was shaking.

"Are you okay?" she asked him. . . or her, whatever gender the cat was.

The kitty seemed to get it, because it meowed at her.

Her vision, became a bit darker as a shadow cast over her, who turned out to be the kid.

"Are you okay?!" he knelt right next to her.

She let the cat hop of her chest before sitting up.

She laughed nervously, while sheepishly scratching the back of her head. "Sorry about that. I'm fine. Don't worry."

"A-are you sure?" he held his hands in front of her, as if he wanted to touch her but was scared that he might to break something.

She smiled at him. "Yep!"

The kitten had proceeded to rub his (or her) face against her hand.

Ruby took it and placed it on her lap while petting it, she could feel it purring.

Ruby cooed at it. "What his name?" she asked.

"I _uhh,_ don't know."He said.

" _Eh?_ Isn't it your cat?"

He shook his head.

"Oh. . ." Ruby raised it up in front of her face. It was all dirty and thin. It looked like a stray.

"Well, then. . . I'm going to call you. . ." Ruby touched her chin, petting her nonexistent beard." _Drei_!"

"Dry?" the kid said, head tilting to the side.

Ruby booped (Yes, that is a word. . . she thinks. Nora uses it.) his nose. " Not 'dry', _Drei."_

He still looked confused."Okay, I guess."

"Anyway," she stood up. "Let's go look for your guardian."  
"No."

Ruby tilted her head to the side a bit, her bangs blocking the view of her right eye. "No?"

"I wanna go around. He's probably still at the booth."  
"Okay, then . . Wanna go around with me?"

* * *

 **TOORU OIKAWA**

* * *

Oikawa heaved out a sigh, as he turned around from the game. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to get the alien plushie. If only the game was volleyball not a shooting game.  
 _Wait!_  
"Takeru?" he looked around, there was a sea of people around him. "Takeru?!"

* * *

 **RUBY ROSE**

Ruby patted her hair back down. Even though the ride was for kids, her hair was still sent everywhere.

"So, where do you wanna go next?" she said, looking down at the kid, who she learned was named Takeru.

Takeru, on the other hand, looked like he was about to throw up.

"Can we go on something that's slow now?" he said, a bit wobbly on his feet.

"So, that would be the ferris wheel?" Ruby inquired.

Takeru was looking at his feet, and just gave a thumbs up.

* * *

 **TOORU OIKAWA**

Oikawa stopped in his tracks as he saw a familiar head in front of the line for the Ferris wheel.

"Takeru!"

The people around him, stared at him, but he still didn't get the kid's attention.  
He ran to the end of the line and started making his way through with several "Excuse me"s.

"Hey! No cutting in line!" somebody said.

"Sorry!" he just yelled as he finally managed to get up front.

He saw Takeru hold on to something and climb into the cab. One of the staff was about to close the door. Oikawa ran to him.

"Wait!" he said, stopping right in front of the guy. "I'm with him."  
The guy nodded and held the door open as he climbed in.

* * *

 **RUBY ROSE**

Ruby stared at the guy who climbed in. He had brown hair and matching eyes that somehow reminded Ruby of chocolate.

He was kinda good looking and quite tall, and from the looks of it, he has a muscular build.

Takeru looked pretty surprised.

"Uncle!"  
 _Uncle?_

 _So, this was the 'he'._

"Takeru, I finally found you~" he said with a smile.

"It's your fault for not leaving that booth!" Takeru defended, frowning at him. "Really, you're so childish. Lame."

 _Ouch. Being called immature by a kid._

"Ehhh!" the uncle guy said, pouting.

The guy called from out the cab. "I'm closing the door now!"

And he did.

The newcomer sat down next to Takeru. His eyes lingered on the kid first with a pout before they drifted off to Ruby.

Ruby shifted under his gaze. She was not really much of a people-person. She means, she's not anti-social, she just has a problem with meeting new people.

The pout vanished and was replaced with a bright smile. . . but not a real one. A smile of respect, not one given out of happiness. She can tell the difference. The difference between the smiles that are given to you by waiters, and smiles you share with friends. The forced smiles of Emerald whenever she was around Ruby. She knew, even then, that there was something off about it, but she turned a blind eye to it. She refused to believe that there was no reality to the friendship between them. But now she can see it. She remembers it, as much as she remembers the absence of it on her older sister's face after she was accused, and after Beacon fell.

"Hello~" he greeted, waving his hand at her, it was quite a large hand, but it was proportionate to his body.  
"Uh, hello." she greeted back with an awkward smile.

He didn't seem bothered by it though.

* * *

 **TOORU OIKAWA**

Oikawa shrugged off the awkwardness in her tone. She was a cute girl. She had black hair that turns red at the tips. He had seen lots of people coloring their hair blond, but he hasn't seen this type of hair yet. Her eyes were some sort of light grey, he thinks. She wore a red hood and black skirt. Black leggings covered her legs, and black boots with red soles were on her feet, which were what caught his attention the most. They looked pretty worn, so she probably had used it a lot. It had an unequal number of straps of each boot.

Her whole body was stiff, and he knows that it was probably because she can feel his gaze. So he looked away.

"So, you looked after Takeru?" he said at an attempt to remove the awkward silence.

"Yeah." she said. Her voice was rather high-pitched.

"Thank you~" he said, flashing her the usual smile he gives out.

"O-oh, okay. You're welcome. . .I guess." she scratched the back of her head.  
And the awkward silence was back.

He decided to turn his attention outside the window. They weren't that high up yet.  
It seems like the Ferris wheel was moving way too slowly.

"So, this is nice. . ." he turned his gaze back to her. It sounded more of a question than a statement though. He didn't expect her to start a conversation. She wasn't looking at him though. She was looking at her hands on her lap while she was constantly placing her thumbs over each other." . . .I think."

He smile at her. "Yeah~"

"So" She stretched the 'o' sound a bit. From the looks of it, she doesn't want it to be back to being all quiet.

Oikawa hummed to show that he was listening.

"Do you have any interests or. . ." she trailed of. She stopped playing with her thumbs, and was now swinging her feet while staring at them.

 _Volleyball._

"Aliens." Takeru spoke up. "He likes aliens. So much that he was completely distracted at the booth that had an alien plushie as the prize."  
And there goes his first impression.

He braced for the laughter and teasing.

"Oooooooh." she said with an interested tone.

 _What?_

He could feel that he and his nephew have the same expression on their faces.

"What did it look like?" she said leaning forward.

He stretched his lips to a smile. It was grey with big black eyes." he said, circling his hands and placing it over his eyes to emphasize. "It was on a plushie space ship."

The girl was listening intently, while leaning forward.

He could see her eyes more properly now. They weren't grey, they were silver. He had never in his life have seen silver eyes, he didn't even know silver eyes existed. But they could be quite common someplace, or maybe it's some sort of mutation or something.

"Oh, that sounds cute!" she said.  
"Well," he started "But I couldn't win it. . ."  
"Awww" she said, leaning back on her seat.

A few moments of silence passed before he spoke up.  
"Do you like volleyball?"

The girl looked at the ceiling for a bit. "Well, I didn't dislike it, but lately I've taken an interest, I guess. . . I'm guessing you like it?"

"Yep, " he leaned back on the plastic seat that had gone cold.

"He's an amazing player at volleyball." Takeru stated." His whole team looks up to him. He's the captain."

"Ooooh!" the girl said, leaning closer again.

"Yeah," Oikawa stated, "but I didn't start of as anything special."

"So?" she said. "It doesn't matter, if you started weak if you're strong now."

"I guess so. . ." he said trailing off.  
 _But no matter what I do, I'm still under the shadow of those who are naturally talented._

"But?" she said, as if she was prompting him to continue.

"What?" Oikawa looked at her.

"Oh! Sorry." she averted her eyes." I thought there was a 'but'. Heh. Weird."

He heard Takeru laugh. "She just said 'butt'!"

The girl's face turned red. "Ehhhh?! T-that was not what I meant."

Takeru laughed even more.

Oikawa smiled at the scene.

The girl was frantically waving her arms in the air, stuttering out syllables, as if she wanted to say something but doesn't know how to say it, while Takeru continued chuckling.

"I-I mean," she was looking at her feet, her hair covered her face, but he could still see that it was red. "Even if you have absolutely zero talent or you're too skinny or something, if you're really determined to do something, sometimes you just can't help but do it, even if the world tells you that you would never make it. Because there is nothing else you would rather be doing."

He leaned forward, her voice seemed to shrink with each word she was saying.

"And these people just won't give up when something turns bad, because they already have underwent so much to just get where they are." she added.

" _Ohhhh_ " Takeru piped in with a teasing tone. "Wise words."

She looked up. He didn't think that her face could be anymore red than earlier but here it was.  
"Sh-shut up!"

"Was there something you worked hard for?" he asked.

The girl went back to playing with her thumbs. "Well . . . yeah."

"So, how did it go?" he inquired, resting his chin on top of his palm, elbow resting on his knee.

"I was complete garbage." she said with a sheepish smile.

"Did you manage too grow out of it?"

"Yeah, I was." she was smiling. "I trained a lot, I guess. But my sister always told me not to train so much."  
 _Why, though?_

"Why? Is she not supportive?" He has an older sibling. They got along, with occasional. . .or often sibling fights. But when it comes to volleyball, his older sister was highly supportive.

"No." she had a look that said 'No way, dude.'. "She's over-supportive of anything I do. It's just that. . . she just warns me not to overwork myself." The girl looked at the ceiling, like she was recalling something. "'You're going to get there. But if you destroy yourself in the process, then what good are you?' she told me."

Oikawa shifted his knee. He sprained it one day, once everybody else had gone home, but he was still practicing his serves. He remembers jumping high up in the air. The ball hit his palm and it flew towards the bottle. And then . . . he landed and not in the right way.  
Long story short, he has to wear a knee supporter now.  
The girl seemed to have seen him move his leg. There was a look on her face that told him that she might have a suspicion on what was up with it, but she didn't say anything.

She averted her eyes and looked out the window instead.

"Ooooh, it looks so beautiful."

Oikawa looked at the window. It was true.

He has no idea how he hasn't noticed it, but now that he has, everything seems to come into color.

They were near somewhere around the highest point of the wheel. The sun was starting to hide behind the mountains, leaving an orange hue in the air. Yellow, orange, violet, blue, colors painted the sky. Clouds looked like they were on fire as they turned bright orange from the sun.

"Oh!" He turned his attention to the girl. She had her arms placed defensively in front of her. "Sorry! I didn't mean to be all sentimental like that." she said. "I just. . . remembered something. Just something with my friends. . ." that part dragged on a bit.

"Was it a good memory?" he flashed her a smile, the usual one he flashes at everybody.

"Yeah," she looked back out the window. "it was. . ."

 _'Was'?_

She was smiling but looked sad. He saw her close her fist and open it back up again, as she rolled her lip in, bit it, and rolled it back out.

He felt his own smile falter. "I'm sorry if I brought back bad memories."  
"Nah," she waved her hand down, in a manner and with the tone that reminded him whenever somebody says 'Don't mind' in a game. "When something bad happens, it doesn't mean that the good one's fade. "

"Rose- _chan_ the wise." Takeru piped in.  
 _Rose? Is it a nickname? Maybe she's foreign or part-foreign?_  
Honestly, Oikawa had already forgotten that he was here with them, which may have something to say on why he lost him earlier.

She went back to being a blushing mess again, with the blabbering of syllables.

"I- It- a-" Rose threw her hand in the air in a manner like she had given back, and she leaned back unto the seat, that gave a small thump from the impact.

Her eyes wandered off back outside the window, and they. . . widened?

Her hand suddenly jumped on the pocket of her hood, while she leaned in closer to the glass, eyes squinting like she was trying to see something that was far away.

He followed her gaze.

She was looking at the woods. A bunch of trees here and there. They were tinted with orange due to the setting sun though. The shadows stretched on the uneven Earth-

 _Something moved._

Oikawa's pretty sure he saw something, like a dash of black, run across the cover of the trees.

He looked over to her. She wasn't bubbly and shy now.

No. What she looked like is what he would describe as the looks of the people who he encounters in games. A look that he himself knows that he has whenever he was serious. A calm, serious look with a calculating gaze.

"Rose? What's wrong?"

* * *

 **RUBY ROSE**

* * *

Ruby looked at the guy. His brows were scrunched together, looking genuinely concerned.

She smiled at him.

"Nothing. I just thought I saw something."

He nodded, but his expression remained the same.

 _He wasn't buying it._

Ruby had been careless.

She looked over to Takeru who had been uncharacteristically quiet, but that's probably because he's still a bit dizzy from what they ridden earlier.

This was not good. She got distracted, and forgot to check her scroll.

She let her hand stay on the pocket of her hood, to where her scroll was tucked into.  
She seems to have been screwing up these pass few days.  
She doesn't want to look back out the window, so she wouldn't worry the guy.

They didn't talk for the rest of the ride down. Ruby now has a feeling that he knows she wasn't in the mood to talk.  
While she appreciates it, it made her feel uneasy.

Once they got off, Ruby excused herself to go to the bathroom.

She went to the direction that leads to the bathroom at first. As much as her legs were itching to dash into the woods, she doesn't want to raise the guy's suspicion anymore. He might be following her, although her aura would be able to feel it if somebody or something was watching her. But better safe than sorry.

* * *

 **Author's note:** Hellooooo. Sorry I haven't updated in a while. Things have been pretty busy. But hey, Haikyuu season 3 is out!  
Also, I might not be updating at a certain schedule, but my goal would be to do it weekly, I guess.

Anyway, this chapter may seem out place. But don't worry, I'll get back to the plot and explain why she's at an amusement park in the next chapters.


	7. Chapter 5: Rides

**Author's Note:** Haikyuu season 3 is out! And RWBY volume for World of Remnants are up! I literally (not figuratively) couldn't stop jumping when I unexpectedly saw RWBY pop up. ashdjdhjkgsjksjfskjdfnkjsnfs.  
Anyway, this was supposed to be up days ago, but my my browser has been having errors whenever I try to open . Huh, weird. I Again, still unedited, my Beta Reader still hasn't dome any editing. This chapter will be revised by me in the future, or if I get lucky, my Beta will.

 **Replies to comments:  
** TheNightstriker chapter 6 . Oct 11

Alright new chapter! Anyway I think you should put some spacing between paragraphs word walls r not pleasing to look at. Still it was a good chappie!

 _Reply:_ Thanks! Anyway, I added spaces in the chapter now. If it's still lacking, please tell me.

* * *

 **CHAPTER 5: RIDES  
**

* * *

 **"Just wear a smile, and you'll turn it all around."** _-Neon,_ RWBY Volume 3 soundtrack

* * *

Ruby felt a branch glide against her face. It probably would have scratched, if for her aura.

She fished her scroll out while running.  
Feeling the familiar glass-like exterior, she slid it out of its slot, and clutched it tightly.  
There were sounds of that can be compared to crunching as she pulled herself to a stop, dragging on for a few feet more.

Ruby looked around her. There was a clearing up ahead, trees all around her, some rocks, some weeds, nothing out of place. Other people would just have passed this place without a second thought, and she might have have too, if not for the sickening feeling to it.

Sliding her scroll open, she nearly flinched from the sudden brightness. She quickly inoutted her password, something that her fingers can do now without even looking. She was immediately met with the mission notification, tapping it, it opened the application.

 _SEARCH AND DESTROY_

 _Small Grimm Activity_  
 _Woods near Rise and Dive Amusement Park, Miyagi Prefecture_  
 _Mission start: ASAP_

Ruby swiped her finger across the cool smooth surface. The contents of the screen went up, and dragged down after she had let go, meaning that there has been no update so far.

She tucked it back into her pocket.

She took a breath, inhaling the cool night air.

With one swift move, she pulled out Crescent Rose from behind her.

The weapon extended, gears slid and clicked into place as it transformed into full-scythe form.  
Before and during her stay at Beacon, she would usually initially start with its gun-mode. But the past few months of being 'out in the field', she had grown accustomed to starting of with it like this.

Her eyelids shut, and she felt her body relax.

She could hear the distant screams of people in the distance, as well as the rides that carry them.

Closer to her, she could hear the silent sound of leaves as they fall unto the ground. And then finally, the sound of something running. Paws hitting the ground hard.

 _Found you._

She took a slow step forward, hearing her footstep echo. And then, she ran.

* * *

 **TOORU OIKAWA  
**

Oikawa found himself back in front of the stall.

Rose had run off for a few minutes now, saying that she needed to use the bathroom, and that she would catch up with them later.

He had ridden a few rides that Takeru was allowed on since then.

He has no idea where the girl had ran off to.

Honestly, he feels like that alien stuffed toy was staring at him in a way that was both mocking and luring.

He heard a groan beside him, and he turned to Takeru. His nephew had his shoulders slumped in a deafeted manner. "I'll go look for Rose-san, while you keep on trying to get the plushie."

Takeru turned his back on him and started to walk away.

Oikawa grabbed him by the collar and dragged him back. "Wait!" he called out in his signature childish way "I'm not going to lose you again."  
Takeru groaned again, pullng Oikawa's hand off his collar.

"Just one game!" he said, placing both palms together.

His nephew sighed. "Honestly," he stared up at Oikawa "You're so childish. _How lame_."

Oikawa really needed to fix that perception of him. He's looking like a child, and his nephew was looking like a guardian here.

He gave him a smile and fished out some coins from his pocket.

The one man handling the game, who had been leaning back comfortably, took both of his hands from behind his head with a rather smug smirk on his face.

"Back for another round?" he asked.

"Just one last." Oikawa said, placing the coins on the counter, hearing the metallic sound as they landed on top of one another. Some shaking for a bit, before gradually stopping.

"Alrighty then." The guy took the money and pulled out the toy gun from under the the counter, offering it to him. "Honesty, don't you have anything better to do? Like flirt with girls? The two girls from earlier looked like they were into you. If I had looks like yours, I know, I would be."  
During his first try, the guy had been rather quiet. But after his third, he had become rather talkative, first talking about his wife and kids. After he talked to the two girls who wanted to give him their numbers, the guy started babbling about women, despite saying that he was forever loyal to his wife earlier.

Oikawa took the gun, the rubber of the handle was something that he had grown quite familiar with.

The guy looked at him. "Ready?"

Oikawa just nodded.

If only this game was on serving volleyballs.

Some sort of space-y music started placing. Lightbulbs attached to a wooden frame blinked up patterns. The small plastic figures of spaceships started to move within the frame, dashing from one point, stopping, then dashing to another at their own intervals with a 'woosh' sound effect.

He aimed it at one.

He needed to have knocked down at least ten of these, and not all go down after one stike.

He pulled the trigger, a small plastic sphere went from his gun and hit the painted wall with the design of space behind the moving objects with a small sound.

He clicked his tongue an aimed again then shot.

It hit one of the space ships that lit up yellow with an exploding sound before it went down with falling sound effects, followed by a crashing sound, and it just stopped moving, blinking red light.

 _One down._

The next shot missed, and the one hit the target, but it didn't go down.  
He fired another, this time hitting a target and it went down.

 _Two._

He heard the clock tick, indicating the ten-second mark.  
He started to aim and fire more quickly, sacrificing his accurancy a bit.  
He managed to knock four down.

 _Six._

The clock started ticking continuously, counting down the ten seconds he had left.

At this point, he wasn't even aiming anymore, he was just firing as quickly as he can. He can hear most of it just hitting the wooden background.

A bell rung, signalling the end of the game.

He looked up at the score board.  
The digit seven was blinking red on the digital scoreboard.

So, he only hit one.

"Oooooh," the guy said in a tone that can be compared to when you see someone get hit pretty hard. "Too bad."  
He heaved out a sigh and handed back the plastic gun.

"Ooooooh" a rather familiar high-pitched voice said behind him  
He turned around and came face-to-face with the Rose girl. Well, kind of face-to-face because Oikawa was taller than her by a good amount of inches.

"So, this is the alien thingy that you were talking about."  
He petted his top hair down, a habit of his.

"Yeah." he replied.  
"I want one." she said, tilting over to his side to peek at the stuffed aliens.

"Wanna give it a try?" Oikawa didn't need to turn around to know that it was the guy.  
Rose looked up at the night sky, a finger placed on her lip, clearly showng that she was thinking. "Yeah, sure. Why not?"  
As much as he wanted to warn her that the game was practicably unbeatable, he should at least let her try.

He watched Rose pull out some coins from her pocket and place it on the counter. The guy pulled it closer to him and off the edge, catching them with his other palm.

"The gun's on the counter." he said while putting the money away.

"Oh, okay." Rose picked up the orange gun, and started inspecting it.

The guy stepped back, close to the green button. "Whenever you're ready."

"Oh." Rose looked up from scrutinizing the gun and at the guy. "Okay. . . Ready."

She didn't look ready though. The gun rested at her side, and she looked kind of out of it a bit.

The guy pushed the green button, and the game came to life.

He watched as Rose pulled the gun up and fired it once, hitting the wall with a thump.  
Normally, people would say that she missed, but. . . on Oikawa's perspective, she wasn't even aiming at the target.

Her lips opened up, mouthing an 'ohh'.

And she fired again, knocking one down.

Oikawa watched as she fired then another then another, not missing even one.

She was going quicker and quicker, with each fire, to the point that he wasn't sure if she was hitting the target or missing, but with the amount of sounds that the spaceships were programmed to do when they go down that he was hearing, and the absence of sound of the wall getting hit, he was pretty sure that she wasn't missing.

Before one spaceship was fully down, another one was starting to go down.

The clock ticked, meaning that ten second has passed.

Ruby placed the gun back to her side.

He reached out to tell her that the time what not yet over, but he stopped before he even started moving, looking at the board.

An exploding sound effect came from the speaker, as the last tiny ship went down, joining the rest.

All of them had been knocked out.

The bell rang, signalling the end of the game. Some sort of upbeat music started playing with the scoreboard blinking along while changing colors.

The girl tilted her head to the right, "Did I- Did I win?"

The guy gaped at her, before shaking his head, as if to clear his head. "Y-yeah."

Turning around, picked up some sort of rod from the ground that had a hook on the end.

With it, he reached out to a bundle of stuffed aliens and unhooked them from the wall. He separated one and handed it over the counter, which to Oikawa, was kind of unfair considering the fact that she went further than just knocking down ten within thirty seconds. There should be some sort of consolation prize for that.

Rose excitedly took the stuffed alien, raising it up, looking at it, before shoving it at his direction.

"Umm. . ." he looked from the toy to her then back at the toy.

"You can have it!" she said, pushing it on his hand. "I'm more of an animal lover."  
He gave a smile and closed his grip on the smooth and fuzzy cloth of the plushie. It had some words sewn unto it at the bottom. ' _You made my ship crash!_ ' were what it said.

Takeru came up to them, both looking quite happy and very relieved. He was most likely glad that Oikawa was done with trying to get the toy.

"Rose _-san_ , that was cool." he said, fists closed, looking up at Rose.  
Rose's face turned into yet another shade of red, but this time, she didn't look embarrassed. "Oh, stop it." she said, waving her hand down in an dismissive manner, while looking at her boots. "Really, it was nothing."

 _'It was nothing'?_

Takeru's fist tightened. "What are talking about?" he leaned over to her. "That was incredible! Are you some sort of secret spy or something?"

"Well," she scratched the back of her head sheepishly, "no. Sorry to disappoint you."

"I'm not disappointed." Takeru said.

Rose just gave an awkward giggle. And adjusted the bag-strap on her shoulder. "Anyway, I'll be going home in a few, but I think we can still get on some rides- Oh right!" she said, slamming her fist down to her palm.

Oikawa looked at her.

"I was going to ride the big" she stretched her arms out to emphasize, "roller coaster."

"Oh," Takeru's face lit up. "I wanna ride that, but I'm too short to ride."

Rose patted his not-quite-bald head. "Don't worry, once you're older and tall enough, there would probably be bigger roller coasters."

She turned to Oikawa. "Wanna ride with me?" she asked bouncing a bit on her heel, looking somewhat like an excited dog that wants to go out and play.

"Okay." he replied. He hadn't exactly gotten on that much rides. The one's he got on so far were the one's that Takeru was allowed on, which wasn't a lot, neither were they adrenaline rushing.

Rose still didn't stop bouncing as they stood in line for the ride. Oikawa can see his nephew eating ice cream on the bench, there was a kitten by his feet. He watched as it hopped up next to his nephew and unto his lap.

The car arrived. He turned his attention back in front of him. There was a sound like air escaping from a compressed location, as the thing that held the people down on their shoulders lifted up. People started getting off. Some Looked pale. Some looked like they want to go again. And some looked like they were about to throw up.

The people got off the metal platform, and one of the crew opened the gate that separated Rose and him from the ride.

Rose immediately ran to the seat at front, hoppping unto it, tossing her bag to the foot of the ride. Oikawa heard someone groan in frustration, saying to his companion that he wanted that seat.

He casually walked over to her, who was already seated, and was pulling the black thing over. There was a clicking sound, which meant it was secure.

He sat down next to her.

"Excuse me, ma'am?"  
They looked up at on of the crew.

"Yes?" she asked. head tilting to the side.

"You can't have your bag with you on the ride." he said, gesturing to the red bag plopped on the ride's floor.

Rose looked as if something hit her in the face, looking down at the red and black bag by her feet.

Now that he thought about it, she had been carrying around a bag."Oh, right, let me just. . ."

She tried to push the black thing up, but it didn't come off.  
"No, it's fine, I'll take it." the guy said.

Ruby had an expression Oikawa would describe as anxious. "It's pretty heavy. . ."

The guy leaned over and tried to pull it up. It rose up a few inches. His face started turning red, and he groaned before dropping it, with a thud.

 _Was it that heavy?_

Oikawa stood up and pulled the bag up.

 _Yes. It was._

With a huff, he pulled it on his shoulders and carried it to the section where you people leave their things.

 _What is in the bag? Rocks? No- Weights?_

When he placed it down, the metal platform gave a thud, he might have damaged the bag because of that.

He made his way back to the front. A smile etched on his features.

Rose looked up to him.

"Sorry about that. . . " she mumbled.

"Nah," he waved his hand in a dismissinve manner, imitating what she did earlier, "It's fine."

She smiled at him.

Oikawa sat back on the seat and pulled the thing (He had no idea what it was called.) over his shoulders.

The guy gaped at him. "You're pretty strong."

"I work out." Oikawa replied.

The guy leaned over, pushing the things down to make sure that they were secure.

He raised his hand and did a motion to someone Oikawa can't see. But it was probably the person handling the start of the ride, because not long after, the ride started slowly moving forward.

The guy stepped back from them, as they started to leave the platform.

They were starting to build up some speed now.

The rails were going up. Oikawa could feel his back pressed against the seat.

He looked over to Rose.

She had an excited smile on her face.

He could hear some exclamations and excited noises from the people behind him, and looking down they were pretty high now.

He could hear a sound that can be compared to chains being dragged, and metal clinking.

He could see the rails go up, an and stop.

They were near the peak, and he heard someone scream from behind him, even though they weren't going down yet.

"We're at the peak!" Rose exclaimed. The leather that held them down was pushed back into their foam, as her grip tightened on it, and he realized that he was holding his pretty tightly to, in a mixture of holding on for dear life and excitement. Mostly the latter.

The sound of metal started slowing down as they reached the peak and then. . . stopped.

The wind knocked his body back as it howled in his ears, but he could still hear the screams from behind him.

He couldn't tell whether he was screaming or not. His surroundings are a blur. He felt his body thrown to the left, then to the right. The Ride did a 360-degree turn, or at least he thinks.

Everything was so quick, and then everything slowed down, as they started to ascend unto a higher peak.

Without the sound of screaming and the wind howling, he can hear Rose laughing next to him.

"That was fun!" she yelled.

"Yeah." he said, realizing that he too had been laughing.

They were near the peak again.

"Here we go!" she said with a huge smile.

Oikawa heard some sounds of excitement, fear and someone say "Oh, no, not again."

And then everything went back to a burst of wind, with screaming and blurred surroundings.

Oikawa stumble a bit when he got off the ride. His feet felt like jelly, and his head was spinning a bit.

He saw Rose casually hop off the seat, stretching her arms out.

"Wanna go on the other one?" she said, pointing somewhere.

Following her finger, Oikawa saw another ride in the distance, it was about the same size as this one.

"Or that one?" she pointed to another direction.  
A tall tower-like structure, something that looked like a ring on it was moving up and down in rapid succesion, he could almost hear the screams.

"Ooooh" What about that one!"

She was pointing towards the Frisbee-looking ride.

"Let's ride all the rides!" she threw her hands up in the air.

She ran to get her bag, which, much to his surprise, she effortlessly picked up and put on.  
She ran to him and grabbed him by the sleeve, dragging him along, like she was a little kid.

The hyper-active attitude has somewhat reminded him of Karasuno's shrimp. The thought of that makes him annoyed though.

Oikawa looked around there was a sea of people around them.

"There he is!" Roose was pointing somewhere in the crowd.

Rose cupped her hand around her mouth.  
"T-"

She stopped for a bit.

"What's wrong?" Oikawa asked.

The crowd cleared up a bit, enough for him to see Takeru sitting on the bench for a second before somebody blocked the way again.

"Wha?" Ruby looked like she was slapped back to reality. "Oh, right."

She placed both hands around her mouth now.  
"Takeru!"

The people cleared up again. He can see the kid look up from his phone and went over to them. The kitten on his tail.  
 _That was weird._

He patted his hair down.

They had gotten off the Frisbee thing that flung them around and around and around. They had ridden loads of rides by now, he stopped counting.

Rose was walking beside him, humming a tue to some song that he doesn't recognize. She was carrying her bag and his own too, to his gratefulness.

He could feel Takeru's head rub against his back. Hopefully, the sleeping kid won't drool on the back of his shirt.

Rose had wanted to get on another ride, but unfortunately, they went back to find Takeru already asleep, the cat was standing up on his shirt, waving its tiny paws up in the air everytime the fly came close to his face.

The kitten had been following them around for quite some time now. though according to Rose, the kitten had been following them around since earlier that day.

It didn't make any noise or even meow, it just followed.

It seems to be rather fond of Rose and Takeru, but it doesn't really react that much to him.

They reached an archway with blinking lights with the words Rise and Dive in full neon lighting with a bunch of roller coasters painted in the background.

"So,"

He looked down at Rose.

"I guess this is goodbye?" she said, pulling his bag of her shoulder, handing it to him.

"Isn't it too dangerous to be walking around alone this time at night?" he said taking the bag with one arm and sliding it his shoulder. He heard Takeru give a small groan from behind him.

"Oh, a, uhh, friend of mine will pick me up." she said.

There was something about the way she said it that makes him think that she's lying.

"I'll be fine." she said, smiling. "Trust me."

For some reason, her tone has something that sounded like confidence that made him less worried about leaving her alone like this.

"Then, I guess I'll be on my way." he said, adjusting Takeru to ensure that he doesn't slide of.

"See ya'" she said, waving at him.

He turned around and walked away.

Once he was relatively far, he looked back to see her still just standing there.

* * *

 **RUBY ROSE**

* * *

Ruby inserted her keys and turned, hearing a small click.  
She opened the door. It was dark inside. She let Drei enter before she closed the door.  
She walked over to Yachi's room, opening the door slowly to avoid creaking. Yachi slept soundly in her bed.  
When she went into the kitchen, she found a note on the counter.  
It said that she made curry and there was some in the refrigerator for her, from Yachi.  
Ruby smiled at the note, like Yachi could see her through this and thanked her in her mind.  
Yachi would make a great wife.  
Ruby took the meal out and placed it on a pan.  
She looked around the room to ensure that it was safe, then she pulled out her scroll.  
Opening the application, she went over to the files on Witnesses.  
She clicked on the magnifying glass, and her keyboard pullled up.  
She typed in the name, hopefully spelling it right.  
A picture of a familiar brunet popped up next to his name. But worried her was the orange mark next right beside his name.

 _ **Tōru Oikawa**_ (Awareness Level: **ORANGE** )  
 _ **及川 徹**_  
 _Male_  
 _Age: 18_  
 _184.3 cm_  
 _72.2 kg_  
 _Aobajōsai_ _(Student)_


	8. Chapter 6: Dreams

**Author's note:** Well. Hello there~

It has certainly been a while. I would say that I've been busy but truthfully, I've been a mix of lazy and uninspired.

Anyways, I'm back, I guess. . . Kind of.

Also! I've edited some previous chapter. So, feel free to check it out.

Alright, one last thing. This was done on my phone during breaks, so it may be a bit off.

And, did you know that Kageyama's current concern is that animals don't seem to like him? According to his Wiki page.

Now without further ado. . .

* * *

 **CHAPTER 6: DREAMS**

* * *

 _"Red like roses fills my dreams." -_ Red Like Roses (Part 1), RWBY Volume 1 soundtrack

Voices. . . echoing. . .

 _Do you believe in destiny?_

They all sounded distant, just so far away.

"Rose- _chan_?"

Yet, it felt so close, right at the finger tips.

 _Yes._

But not close enough. Never close enough.

If only for one more second. . .

"Rose."

One step quicker, one moment closer, one second. If only—

 _PYRRHA!_

"ROSE!"

* * *

Ruby sat upright so suddenly as if struck by lightning, then instantly regretted it as she felt her head connect to something hard.

 _"Ugyaa!"_

Her hand flew to her head. The usual headache she gets when waking up from this nightmares is now accompanied by sting that the head slam brought on.

Ruby's eyes started to clear while the sting went away with her Aura's healing. She placed her hand down which was obscuring her view. The blur of the living room was familiar, everything was in place as it usually would. Except for a little detail that was definitely out of place, a little blur just in front of her. Orange standing out from the rest of the color mix—

"Hinata?!" She said, incredulously at person who was sitting right beside her.

He was holding his forehead in his hands, eyes squinted shut.

 _Oh crud!_

Ruby's hands flew to her mouth.

"Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry!"

Hinata was quick to respond.

"D-don't worry about it. I shouldn't have been leaning over like that." Hinata said, looking up at her. He was rubbing a rather red spot on his forehead. He had an assuring smile, one eye still closed. "Are you okay? That was a pretty hard hit."

"Yeah, sorry about that." Ruby said, sheepishly looking at her lap while rubbing the back of what she realizes was incredibly disheveled hair. Her mind went ahead and flipped a switch making her embarrassed that he had to see her like, well, that. "I'm fine, don't worry."

"Anyways, can I take look?" She gestured at his forehead.

"Oh, okay." He complied leaning forwards and, much to his joy, he had to lean down a bit for her to have a better look. She frowned at the pinkish tinge that spread across.

"It stings a bit-"He started but upon seeing the dismayed look on her face, he hastily added, "O-only a bit. I've gotten hit in Volleyball harder. I'm used to it. So, don't worry."

"It doesn't look too bad," Ruby said, releasing the breath she hadn't realized she had been holding. "But we should put an ice pack on it to be safe."

"Yes, please." He said, sounding more than a little bit fond of the idea.

Ruby laughed another question came into mind.

"What were you doing anyway?" She tilted her head to the side.

"Oh!" Hinata lightened up. "I saw you asleep on the couch, and you were groaning. Like _'hrrrrnn!'_ and ' _mmmm!'."_

Had she really been that noisy? Oh jeez, she wondered if she had ever woken up the rest of team RNJR because of that.

Hinata continued. "So, I thought you were having a nightmare, so I tried to wake you up."

"Thanks." Ruby appreciated the gesture, she really did. But she would rather that he hadn't seen that, mostly to avoid questions about it. How exactly do you explain 'I watched my friend die, and now I have nightmares about it.' without leading to more questions and a a very unwelcome pity party?

 _Wait a second,_ what on Remnan— Earth, she corrected, was he even doing here?

" _Ne,_ Hinata." She called his attention.

"Hm?"

"What exactly are you doing in my house while I'm asleep?"

Hinata tilted his head to the side, looking like a confused puppy. Like how Yang said Ruby does. "What do you mean?"

"I mean," Ruby elaborated. She pointed downwards to emphasize her point. "What are you doing _here,_ in this exact location and moment in time?"

She took the risk befriending him, despite the fact that he was _her Witness._ And luckily, he didn't really seem to realize anything. And now he was here, inside her apartment. A place that had secret hidden panels all over the rooms for emergency situations. Panels that contained Dust rounds and stuff. Maps of the Rifts. Basically, everything that a Witness should not be close to. But there he was, smiling, completely oblivious to the facts. Ruby is probably breaking crud of a lot of Witness Safety regulations that second.

Hinata remained confused. "Aren't we supposed to be having a study session?"

She blinked.

"Oh yeah." Ruby remembered, looking up at the ceiling. They did agree to that, didn't they? How could she forget? Maybe she's getting old. . .

Yeah, probably not.

 _What was he doing in your house?_

 _You invited him, idiot._

"Where's Yachi?" her gaze fell back to his.

"She's just getting the study material from her room."

"Oh."

"And Kageyama's in the bathroom."

"Oh-" _Wait, what?_ She gave Hinata a confused look."Wait, he's here too?"

Hinata too, looked confused.

"Yeah, he needs to pass too. He may be a jerk, but he's an amazing setter."

 _Of course Kageyama's here. Ruby, you dolt!_

Welp, she just used "dolt". Weiss had really rubbed of of her. Maybe Ruby's vocabulary had grown a bit with having her as a partner.

"R-right." Ruby felt her face heating up. "Sorry."

"Don't worry about it!" Hinata said enthusiastically. "I forget to do my homework all the time too!"

Ruby blinked. _Wow, they really do need Yachi's help._ Not that she had the right to judge, she falls asleep in class, both in Beacon and Karasuno. Heck, she even fell asleep when she was supposed to be keeping watch in Mountain Glenn.

"By the way, Rose-chan." Hinata started.

"Yeah?"

"What were you dreaming about?"

 _Well, crud. just what the question she didn't want to answer._

Hinata looked expectantly at her.

"Well," Ruby started, her they felt dry. Her mind racked for the most believable lie."I uh—"

" _ARGHH!_ "

Their heads snapped towards the open door way.

Soon enough, Kageyama walked in holding _Drei_ by the neck, a whole arms length away from him, while the cat hissed clearly wanting to scratch the guy's face off. Once again, he had saved her from a question that she most definitely did not look forward to thinking about lies of.

Ruby jumped up from the couch and took the highly agitated cat, trying to calm him through pets.

"Woah,"Hinata said. She watched the orange ball of energy stand up and lean towards the newcomer. "What happened, _Baka_ geyama?"

"The damn cat jumped on my face!" Kageyama's said, glaring the kitten, who returned the challenge by hissing back.

" _Pffft!"_ His hand flew to his mouth as Hinata held in his laughter. His cheeks puffed in suppressed air.

Ruby whirled to Kageyama, bowing in apology, careful not to hurt the kitty in her arms.

" _Ohmygosh_. I'm so so _so_ sorry. He doesn't usually act like this. He's friendly most of the time. _Bad Drei. Bad."_ Ruby scolded at the kitten that just looked up at her from her arms.

" _Iye,_ it's fine. He didn't manage to scratch me." Kageyama's reasoned nonchalantly.

"But he _tried_ to!" Ruby replied as she threw one arm up in the air. The other was still holding the guilty cat. She was clearly very upset at the events.

"No, really, Rose-chan. It's fine." Hinata said, amusement clear in his voice. "Animals never liked Kageyama anyway."

"Shut up, _boke!"_ Kageyama yelled. Glaring at him with an expression that blatantly say 'Keep you pie-hole shut before I shut it for you.'.

"But it's true!"And so it begins. . .

"Yes, but you don't have to let the whole world know about it!"

"I'm not letting the whole world know about it!" Hinata defended. "I'm letting Rose know so that she won't feel guilty that her cat wanted to scratched your scary face!"

"What?!"He glared at him, consequently proving the short one's point. Hinata seemed to back away a bit in fear.

"I-I am!" He said, trying to regain composure. "Ask Rose!"

Ruby did _not_ want to be part of thus argument. It was always

They both turned their heads to her.

"I uhh-" Ruby tried to change the topic. . . and the mood. So, she said. "Anybody else feel hungry?"

That did the trick.

Both of their faces instantly lit up.

"Food!" Hinata yelled before running out the room.

" _Oi!_ No headstarts, _aho!_ " Kageyama's ran right after.

Ruby was silently glad that the apartment right below her own was empty. Or else she was definitely going to get complaint on this.

Their footsteps soon became weaker as they ran down the hall.

Ruby let her smile falter.

 _What the heck. . ._

It had been a while since she had _those dreams_ , so why now? Why are they back again—

Lost in her thoughts, she failed too notice that the footsteps grew louder again and Hinata poked poked his head in the doorway again, startling her.

"Where's" Hinata started. " the kitchen?"

"It's over here, Hinata _boke!"_ Kageyama said somewhere down the hall.

Hinata clicked his tongue before running down. Yelling something about that not being counted as a win. Kageyama yelled something back, arguing with him.

Again, Ruby let her smile fall, not even knowing when she started holding it up.

This was unlike her.

Drei looked up at her with an expression that could pass for concern.

"I'm fine, Drei." She patted him soothingly, lying through her teeth. "Just a little nightmare, that's all."

She let the cat down and turned to the couch. A blanket laid on the cushions, which she hadn't noticed earlier. Yachi probably placed it on her the night before. What was she even doing falling asleep on the couch? She walked towards the couch picked up the blanket to fold it, but stopped when she spotted a certain object underneath it.

 _Oh, yeah. . ._

Her scroll was revealed as she removed the blanket.

That was too risky. If having him in her house was risky, this was riskier.

Hinata had literally been sitting on the information he was forbidden to know. _Heh_. That brings a new meaning to "passing right underneath their noses", except it was "passing underneath their butt".

Gotta make sure that she doesn't leave _that_ lying around.

She folded the blanket neatly and draped it over an arm before going down the hall to follow the two intruders.

Ruby entered the kitchen doorway to find them snooping in her fridge, muttering among themselves.

She heard Hinata suggesting to eat something when she spoke up,"Do you guys always break into people's homes, watch them sleep, and then proceed to rummage through their fridge?"

They both turned to her, but the only reaction she got was—

"You were watching her sleep?" Kageyama asked Hinata, an eyebrow raised.

"I-I was not" Hinata defended, turning red.

Ruby giggled.

"There's a cold compress in there somewhere. Use it on your forehead." she said as she started brewing some coffee.

"Oh," Hinata said as he leaned over closer, moving some contents out of the way, nearly toppling a water bottle. "Got it!"

Sure enough, Ruby turned around to see Hinata holding the ice pack victoriously in the air.

"What happened to your head? Did you get hit with another volleyball?" Kageyama asked, instantly ruining Hinata's mood.

"I didn't!" Hinata defended. He raised his bangs and applied it the the part that had turned pink. "Rose accidentally head slammed me when I woke her up."

"So you _were_ watching her sleep!"

"I wasn't. I just woke her up from a nightmare."

" _Anou_. . ." said a significantly less forceful voice.

They saw Yachi standing at the doorway. Well, saw half of her at least. The other half was currently behind a stack of books that towered over her.

The two immediately went over her and relieved her of the weight.

Yachi gave her thanks while rubbing her arms.

They placed the books down on the table with a thud.

Ruby blinked.

"Where did all of those books come from?" Last time she checked, there wasn't a mountain of books anywhere in the house.

"As it turns out," Yachi said with a shy smile. "Lots of my stuff made it. Even some clothes!"

She played with the hem of the black t-shirt Ruby lent her. It had two red triangles on it to represent the burning eyes of something rather. . . grimm.

Pun intended. Ruby inwardly scowled at the mini-Yang that lived in her head for that terrible joke.

She looked over at Hinata who didn't seem to notice _or recall_ anything. Luckily.

If she, Ruby, had remembered that these two were coming over, she never would've lent Yachi this shirt. But it looks like it didn't trigger Hinata's memory, so that's fine. . . she thinks.

"That's great, Yacchan!" Hinata yelled.

Yachi smiled. "But my Math notes aren't one of them. . ."

Hinata and Kageyama looked defeated at the fact.

Ruby laughed at them.

"I'm heading out for a bit after this, have some errands to run." she stated, standing on her toes to reach the sugar and cream in a cabinet.

She turned to see Hinata looking disappointed at having one less study-buddy. Kageyama was feeling a bit like that too, but his stoic face said otherwise.

"I'll be back so don't worry." she reassured them, handing each one a cup of coffee.

"Eh?" Hinata exclaimed. "You're really not staying?"

Ruby shook her head.

"Your part-time job?" Yachi tried.

She nodded.

"A part time. . ." Hinata repeated, eyes widening as something that didn't seem to fit came across his thoughts."Even in Sundays?"

"Yep." she replied as she started to heat the oil on the pan.

"You have it rough." Hinata took a sip from his coffee. "Ack! So bitter!"

"Whoops, sorry." Ruby apologized before explaining. "I'm used to people telling me that it's too sweet so I toned it down. Want some sugar?"

Hinata nodded his head like otherwise he might end up dumping the coffee secretly on some house plant.

She tossed the container over to him as she started to fry some bacon.

"Never too late for coffee." Hinata said as he happily stirred in the sugar.

What does he mean? It's still—

 _Wait a second._

From the sunlight that came in the kitchen window and her experience of telling time through the sky from her traveling, she could tell that it _was definitely_ later than she originally thought.

"Wait, what time is it?" Ruby turned to them, who were sitting on the table. Kageyama had taken the sweet stuff away from Hinata's and started to add some in his own drink.

They looked at each other.

"Last time I checked, it was 10:30."

 _Crud._

She turned the heat up and hastily finished cooking eggs and bacon. Classic breakfast. She got the eggs a bit toasted at the sides and the bottom in her rush but the yolk was still runny.

"I'm late." she said as she took her own portion before setting plate down on the spot on the table that wasn't covered with books.

She was supposed to be there at nine!

She practically shoved her breakfast down her throat.

"Hot!"

She snatched Kageyama's mug which he had just finished mixing. He protested with an " _Oi!"_ as Ruby took a gulp and set it down again. It was creamy, but needs more sugar.

"Got to go."

The group only watched as she ran out the room. Only a minute or two later, they saw her as she briefly emerged as she passed the doorway, fully dressed like she hadn't woken up fifteen minutes ago. She carried her signature bag over one shoulder.

"I'm heading out!" she announced as she stood at the open door.

And a split second later, they heard the front door shut.

* * *

 **Tobio Kageyama**

He had to use the bathroom. _Badly._

It had been two or three hours since Rose left And it has been about one or maybe two hours that the little devil had been staring at him.

He was rarely intimidated in volleyball, almost never. Of course, with the exception of Oikawa, but still. . .

The black cat was sitting by the doorway. _Waiting._ It didn't say anything or make any moves whatsoever. It just say there. _Staring._ The cat wasn't staring at the kitchen in general. _No._ It was staring directly at him. It's tail seeing gracefully like it was a predator patiently awaiting the prey. But to Kageyama, the tail looked like the second-hand of a time-bomb, slowly rocking down to hi—

" _Ne,_ Kageyama, are you having a glaring contest with the cat?"

" _Ha?"_ he turned his head to the idiot, subsequently glaring at him.

He heard Hinata audibly gulp.

"Kageyama."

His gaze softened as he looked over at their little manager, prompting her to continue.

"Could you please stop shaking your leg? I can't write properly."

He had been shaking his leg for a while now in hopes of reducing the need to 'go', in a side-effect, he was shaking the table since his knees touched the bottom.

"Oh. _Gomen."_ he apologized. He moved his knees outside the table instead, but still tapped impatiently.

" _Iye_." Yachi assured him. " It's fine."

Honestly, this was the cat's fault. If it hasn't been sitting there, waiting as if he was some sort of mouse, he would have been able to pee an hour ago!

"I'm back!" Rose loudly announced down the hall.

"Welcome back." They yelled over.

The cat, much to Kageyama's pleasure, stood up, hissed at him before going to presumably Rose. He want sure, but he didn't care.

As soon as he heard Rose acknowledge _Dry-_ or Diray- whatever that monster's name was and cooed at it, Kageyama made a mad dash for the bathroom.

He can hear Hinata laughing at him, but punching him in the face was gonna have to wait. His current and larger concern lay elsewhere. That being a plumbing equipment that looked almost heavenly. It took him a couple of tries to get the toilet seat up, since it bounce right back from the force he used to slam it open.

Once he was 'relieved' _,_ he came back to the kitchen to see that she had sat down with them. The cat was wearing a brand new red collar with a little silver bell, while it laid comfortably on Rose's lap.

 _Great,_ he thought, _now he gets a warning bell whenever it was near._

It reminds him of a horror film he had seen once, where the supernatural being's only warning of appearing was this creepy sound. Only that he gets a tinkling not a croaking voice.

Hinata was indulging a meat bun, because of course he was.

"Yo." Rose greeted him, pulling out a carton of milk from the convenience store bag by her feet, probably since the table was covered in notes and books.

He nodded at her in response.

She tossed the milk carton at him. "It's sorta my thanks for treating me some milk back then."

"You didn't need to repay me, _baka."_ he said, plunging the straw in.

Rose laughed. "Well, I wanted to."

He took a seat across from her. Away from the little monstrosity snoozing on her lap.

" _Ne, Rose-chan."_ Hinata broke the silence after a minute.

"Hm?"

"I haven't seen anybody else in the house."

"Yeah?" Her expression said 'Should you be setting anyone else?'.

"Why?" Hinata tilted his head a bit to the side. "Are your parents at work?"

"Oh." She looked like she had finally caught unto what he meant. She took another bite out of an abnormally large cookie. "Nah. I live alone."

In less than a second, the ball of never-ending energy had both of his hands on the table and leaned over Rose.

" _Sugoi!_ Why though? Where are they?" He shot one question after another.

Rose looked taken back from the enthusiasm as she leaned back in her chair's two back legs. "I've transferred here from abroad, they're still there."

"So you are a foreigner! Like Lev!" Hinata leaned forward more, as she leaned back.

Rose looked over at Kageyama as if to ask just who that person was.

"He's a half-Russian volleyball player."

She mouthed an "Oh." before turning back to the energetic shrimp, not to say Kageyama didn't also find Rose energetic. . . and short.

"Is this why you take a part-time? To earn extra money?" Hinata pressed on as Rose went back, balancing on the back legs of her chair.

"Ye-"

 _Crash!_

Gravity finally seemed to take a toll soon how far back she was leaning and fell backwards.

"Oof!"

"Rose-chan!" Hinata exclaimed.

But before neither Kageyama or Yachi got off their chairs Rose, seemingly, effortlessly hoped off the ground.

"Fine, fine." she's said, trying to calm them with her hands raised in a reassuring gesture "Totally fine."

"Are you sure?" Yachi asked, worry clear in her voice.

"Yep." Rose said, sitting back there where her chair was earlier—but not anymore. She fell back down again.

This time Kageyama and Yachi were both on their feet.

"Still okay." She said before hoping up again. "My bad."

"Hinata, _boke!"_ Kageyama yelled. "This is your fault."

"A-ah." Hinata stuttered. "I'm sorry!"

He bowed in front of her.

Rose wanted her hand dismissively. "No, no. It's fine really. I'm just clumsy, that's all!"

She smiled over at Hinata. "Besides, we're even now!"

Kageyama saw that Hinata looked relieved but still a tad bit guilty, but he didn't say a word and just sat down.

Rose cooed at the cat that had hopped when she fell down. The fluffy monster came forth. She picked it up, set up her chair, looking at it one more time as if it was going somewhere, before sitting.

"One last question," Hinata said, curiosity lighting up his eyes. "What is your part-time job?"

For a second there, he thought he saw panic flash in her eyes. But it went as soon as it came so he can't tell whether it was just his mind playing a trick on him.

"Nothing special." she said, a little bit too quickly.

"Anyway," she picked up an open book on the table, like she was trying to change the subject. "Where are we?"

Kageyama noticed something. . . off. The other two did too apparently.

" _Anou_. . . Rose?" Yachi started.

"The book's upside down." Hinata finished.

Rose's face almost instantly heated up. "O-oh. Whoopsies. My bad."

She flipped the book to it's right side-up.

He saw Yachi bite her lip to stop laughing, while Hinata was putting less effort into stopping his snickering.

Rose slumped back in her seat, like she wants to melt into it.

Yachi seemed to also notice her distress because she soon cleared her throat and announced that they were resuming the study.

He could almost swear that he saw relief in Rose's metallic eyes.

* * *

 **In a quiet tidy bedroom at the dead of the night . . .**

A disruption came in the form of disgruntled groans of young man as he stirred in his sleep. Tossing and turning, getting caught up in his blankets. Now, what could he be dreaming of?

* * *

 **Tooru Oikawa**

He was standing up, high above the ground, on the metal platform at the base of the roller coaster. The railings were exaggeratedly twisted in ways he was vaguely aware was defying the laws of physics. But those thoughts laid at the back of his head, blanketed by the soothing relaxation of his gentle slumber.

The crowd below him was a blur, just a bunch of shades of color moving on and about. It was like those time-lapse videos that you see, except that time was passing normal and so were they. But they remained a blur nonetheless. Their voices were not any clear either.

He turned his head at the ginormous rise loomed overhead. It's shadow cast over him and the people below as the sun set behind it coloring the sky a beautiful shade of orange.

 _And just then, he felt the hairs on his arms stand on end._

A cold chill ran behind him as a voice in his mind told him to be careful.

 _It tells him that somebody or something was watching him._

It wasn't just looking like a passer-by would. (Seeing his good looks.) It was watching, _waiting._

He swallowed as his snapped back towards the railing that prevented clumsy people from falling over the edge. He scanned the crowd, searching. His mind screamed danger and his legs were ready to make a run for it. From what? He doesn't know. But the same voice in his head tells him that he does.

The crowd remained as they were as he scanned it, realizing how hopeless it was since all he could see were unidentifiable blurs.

Then as if on que, another tall ride loomed over. A circular ride that moved ever so slowly. A ring that had turned into a dark silhouette against the setting sun that was for some reason behind it. He doesn't acknowledge this physic-breaking rule as he spotted something just at it's feet.

From below it was a bright red blur, making its way across the crowd at an incredible speed. The rest of the blurs looked grey against the strong color that weaved it's was through. It didn't waste anytime as it was just reduced to a red blur that left a line of fading red in its wake.

He didn't waste anytime either, as he ran down the stairs to go after it.

It was almost as if the crowd knew and agreed to what he was doing as they parted as he made his way through. Like he was a rock in a flowing river.

In almost no time, he found himself out of the crowd, and soon enough into a set of trees.

The eyes that bore into his back still remained.

Despite having a good advantage ahead of him, he followed the red blur though the woods, the color contrasted the green of the leaves.

The crown behind them have long been out of sight and only recently have their reduced into silence. The rides were still visible as it gained darker with the sun setting.

Panic racked within him. His breath hastened as it got dimmer. Every bush made him wary. The trees weren't safe. Every dark ditch made his heart pound faster and before he knew it he was running, towards the red blur. But always seemed to gain a steady lead ahead of him. He wanted to call out to it.

A chill ran down his spine as he felt the eyes that watched him again.

His head snapped behind him.

Two burning red eyes stared back at him from a bush. The world seemed to fall into complete darkness at this point, accelerating to night.

 _Run._ A voice said.

But as if his legs were frozen, he couldn't. All he could do was watch as a dot as dark as black can be poked out of the bush. It soon revealed itself to be a snout as the rest of the creature came out of hiding. As dark as the night was, this was even darker. It growled at him, snapping it's jaw as it came closer. And the nearer it got, the larger it seemed to become, towering over him.

Fear gripped him. His breath was unsteady.

Suddenly, his legs were no longer frozen and he turned tail and ran. Ran as quickly as he can. He can hear the beast's paws hitting the ground hard in loud thuds, but he didn't dare look back. He just kept running and running. He glanced at the ground to make sure he doesn't trip over any roots, and his eyes fell on his knee. Instantly, the scene chanced for a split second. And in that short moment he saw himself. Inside the gym, he saw himself in mid air. A volleyball was flying away from him towards the opposite side of the court. He watched as this other him looked towards the ball, observing it's direction. Then, he saw himself _land._

The scene was gone and he was back in the forest, but as soon as it was gone a pain shot up his leg, freezing it stiff. He plunged forward skidding a few feet forward. Wasting no time, he pushed himself up. Or at least he tried.

 _His leg. He couldn't move his leg._

He flipped himself, propping himself up on his elbows.

The beast looked down at him, and he could swear he saw it lick its lips.

Using his elbows, he tried to drag himself away as quickly as he can, but he knows that it was futile. He's damn well trying anyways. For every few distances that he covered, the beast just covered in one move.

He kept his eyes trained on it as he moved backwards. His back hit something, presumably a trunk, but he couldn't look back. Instead, he kept his eyes staring into those bloodthirsty eyes. Whenever he had tried to imagine murderous eyes back then, all he would see was eyes trained on victory, on a goal that nobody could stop them from achieving. But this. This were murderous eyes.

He patted the ground next to him looking for something. Anything to defend himself with, and landed on a stick. He closed his hand around it and pointed it at the monster with outstretched arms. Then he noticed something else.

His arms— They were short. His head whipped sideways and some way and for some reason, a mirror was there. And in the reflection, he saw himself way younger than he should be.

A snap of jaw enough to call his attention back to the danger before him. And one look at it told him that it was done playing with its prey.

His heart leaped to his throat as it jumped.

* * *

He sat up suddenly, heaving jagged breaths.

His head whipped around the place, looking for the monstrosity, but only found his empty room.

 _Just a dream._ He reminded himself. _It's just just a dream._

But it felt more real than that.

He stood up and checked the bottom of his bed, then proceeded to open cabinets. He knows he wouldn't find anything but it made him feel better. Closing his closet, he went back to bed and sat down with a sigh.

 _What the hell was up with that dream?_

He laid down felt something squish below him. He pulled the alien plush from the amusement park the other day. 'You crashed my ship.' was still visible despite the darkness. He remembered the odd redhead he encountered just yesterday— Err, other day, he corrected when he looked over at the clock. It was well pass midnight.

Pulling himself back in the sheets, he laid down with the plush. Oddly enough, it somehow calmed him. He turned to his side and just hugged it to his chest. Soon, he was back to sleep.

* * *

 **Author's note:** It's a mess, I know. But don't worry, I'm off to actually edit now (it's a miracle, I'm actually going to try to be not lazy and edit.). But I'm going for earlier chapters first. As always, comment for improvement are welcome. If it's not comments for improvement, you can just go ahead anyways, I'm not stopping you. If you excuse me, I'm going to try and convince myself to not be lazy for an hour or two.


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